The Lost One
by Jewelz1642
Summary: There was another girl who Elijah and Klaus fought over. Their best friend, Alliana the twin sister of Tatia. They don't realize what she means to them until too late. She was supposedly gone forever, until they find not only Tatia's doppelganger, Elena, but her twin sister and Alliana's doppelganger, Emilia.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Long before Tatia came to town, Elijah and Niklaus had their eye on one girl, their best friend, Alliana. When Tatia comes to the village, everything changes. The most that changes is their friendship. Instead of spending time with Alliana, they spend time with her sister, Tatia. This continues until the night they turn, when they realize what she means to each of them too late. They believed she was gone from their lives forever, until they arrived in Mystic Falls. There they find not only the doppelgänger of Tatia, but the doppelgänger of Alliana.

A/N: This is my first fanfic. Constructive criticism is recommended and greatly appreciated. Please tell me how you feel about this story. Reviews are also appreciated.

Ch.1

"_Alliana, come over here and meet your neighbors!" shouted Aunt Helena._

"_I am coming," Alliana shouted back. She walked outside their hut and over to her aunt. She was standing with a big family with many children. The mother walked over to her and greeted her._

"_Hello, my name is Esther. These are my children."_

"_Finn, my eldest," a tall, thin man with medium brown hair nods in Alliana's direction._

"_Elijah, my second eldest," a tall, strong older boy with dark curly hair greets her. "Hello."_

"_Niklaus, my third son," an older boy with light brown hair and deep blue eyes who barely looks at her is introduced._

"_Kol, my fourth son," a boy with dark brown hair walks over to her. He grabs her hand, kisses it, and winks at her._

"_Rebekah, my daughter," a girl with light blonde hair and blue eyes smiles at Alliana._

"_And finally, Henrik, my youngest," a young boy with medium brown hair, waves to her._

_Alliana greets them all in return. Her aunt introduces her. "This is my niece, Alliana. She will be staying here for a while."_

"_Hello."_

"_Rebekah, can you show Alliana where to collect water? She will do chores with you," Esther said._

"_Yes, mother," Rebekah says. "Come follow me."_

_She started to walk towards the forest and Alliana followed. The trees were tall and a bright vivid green. They forest was light and spacious. It was beautiful. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, making them look brighter than usual. It was a beautiful spring day. She followed Rebekah farther into the forest._

"_We collect water from the creek not too far from here. It is fed by a waterfall a little further down. My brothers and I love to play in the waterfall," Rebekah tells her._

"_It must be nice to have such a large family," Alliana replies._

"_At times. My brothers and I are all different. Finn is very serious and thoughtful. He is always thinking and studying when he is not hunting with my father. Elijah is very moral, but very serious at times. He still plays games, though. Niklaus is very strong. He is always protecting me. He loves to plays games. Kol loves to play tricks. He is constantly trying to trick me and annoy Nik. Henrik is the youngest. He is the sweetest. He tries to make everyone happy at all times. I am very stubborn, but I love my family and will protect them always."_

"_It must be nice. My family is not as close."_

"_I had wondered why you are here. The village doesn't get too many new people."_

"_I asked my parents if I could leave. They sent me here to my aunt."_

"_They just let you go? They did not want you to stay."_

"_I think they mostly wanted me to go. They also knew that I wanted to see new places."_

"_I cannot believe they would let you go."_

"_They are probably going to send my sister here soon."_

"_You have a sister?"_

"_Yes, she is my twin sister."_

"_What is she like?"_

"_Her name is Tatia…."_

* * *

><p>"Jeremy, Elena, Emilia! It's time to get up for school!" Aunt Jenna shouts.<p>

I quickly get up and get dressed. I rush downstairs to see Aunt Jenna rushing around the kitchen. "Toast, I can make toast," she says.

"I can eat some cereal. They just need some coffee," I say.

"Yeah, it's all about the coffee Aunt Jenna," says Elena as she walks in. My twin is looking good as always. I make myself some cereal.

"Is there coffee?" says Jeremy as he walks in. Elena hands him the coffee pot.

"It is your first day of school and I am totally unprepared. Lunch money?" Jenna says as she offers us some cash.

"We're good," Elena and I say, while Jeremy takes some of the money.

Jenna rushes around the kitchen, searching for things. "Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing?"

"Don't you have a big presentation thing today?" I say. I finish my cereal and start to clean up.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at…now. Crap."

"Then go. We will be fine." I say. Jenna rushes out. I notice Elena zoned out. I nudge her and turn to Jeremy. "Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Don't start," he says as he turns away and walks out. I am a little annoyed at him. Elena and I turn towards the window. I steal some of her coffee.

"This is going to be a long day," I say.

* * *

><p>Elena and I were in the car with Bonnie. Elena was in the front seat spacing out again, while I was in the back half-listening to music and half-listening to Bonnie ramble. She was talking about her Grams telling her she is psychic. She finally notices that Elena is not paying attention and calls out to her. "Elena! Back in the car."<p>

"Oh, I did it again, didn't I?" Elena says.

"Totally spacing out. Yes, yes you were," I say to Elena.

Elena makes a face at me and I laugh. She turns to Bonnie and says, "I'm sorry Bonnie. You were telling us that…"

"That I'm psychic now," Bonnie says.

"Right. Okay, then predict something." says Elena.

"About us," I say.

Bonnie sighs, then says, "I see..." Right as a bird crashes into the windshield. We all gasp and Bonnie swerves the car, and then stops it. I stop and take a breath. My heart is pounding in my chest. Bonnie turns to us, "Are you guys okay?"

"It's okay. We're fine," I say. I saw Elena still looks a little shaken up.

"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere."

"No really. We can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of our lives," Elena tells Bonnie.

Bonnie sighs. "I predict that this year is going to be kick-ass and I predict that all the sad and dark times are over and you guys are going to be beyond happy." Elena and I smile at Bonnie and she smiles back.

"Okay. Let's go," I say. Bonnie drives us to school. It's the start of a new year and everyone is greeting each other. They are all talking about what happened over the summer.

Bonnie, Elena, and I are walking down the hallways. We stop at Bonnie's locker. I laugh at something Bonnie says then look around. I nudge Elena who turns around. Matt is looking at Elena. I feel really badly for him. We have all been friends forever. He and Elena started going out in freshman year, but she broke up with him back in the spring after our parents died. Elena waves at him, but he just grabs a book from his locker and walks away.

Elena turns and leans against the lockers. She sighs and says, "He hates me."

Bonnie grabs a few books and says, "That's not hate. That's 'You dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's Greatest Hits.'"

I laugh and am suddenly grabbed and pulled into a bear hug by someone. I jump and hear "Emilia. Elena. Oh my god. How are you? It's so good to see you guys." Caroline lets go of me and pulls Elena into a hug. She lets go and says to Bonnie, "How are they? Are they good?" She pulls me into another bear hug. I laugh and hug her back. I missed my bubbly best friend.

"Caroline, we are right here. We are fine," says Elena.

"Yeah Care. We are fine, but I still need to breathe." She lets me go. "We are great. Thanks.

"Really?"

"Yeah, much better," my twin says.

"Oh, you poor things." Caroline grabs Elena again. I laugh at Elena's face. She doesn't always get along with Caroline, but we love her.

"Okay Caroline," says Elena. Caroline lets her go.

"I'll see you guys later? Ok. Bye." Caroline walks away. I am still giggling at Elena.

"No comment," Elena says.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Bonnie says. I am trying to calm my giggles, but Elena's reaction was just really funny. We continue to walk down the hallways. I start to think of what this year is going to be like. All I can think is that this year will be different. As we pass the front office, I notice someone is there. Bonnie tells us to hold up. "Who is this?"

Elena says, "All I see is his back."

"It's a hot back," I tell her. I look again at the new guy. He is tall and looks built well. From what I can tell, he is very fit and very attractive.

"I'm sensing Seattle and plays the guitar," says Bonnie.

"You are really gonna really run this whole this psychic thing into the ground, huh?" I say.

"Yeah, pretty much," Bonnie says. I notice Elena looking over at the mysterious new guy with a new look on her face. I smile, thinking of all the new possibilities this year could bring. Then, I look over and notice Jeremy going to the bathroom.

"Elena, let's go. We will be right back, Bon." Elena and I walk into the bathroom. We see Jeremy putting drops into his eyes. Elena walks up to Jeremy and gets in his face. She looks into his eyes. "Great. It's the first day of school and you are already stoned."

"No, I'm not." Elena starts to fight Jeremy thinking that he has drugs on him. I stand back, just watching. They keep fighting until Jeremy says, "Look, stop! I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?"

Then I step in. "You haven't seen crazy. We gave you a summer pass, but that is over. I am done watching you destroy yourself." He goes to get up when Elena stops him.

"You know what. Go ahead. Keep it up, but just know that we will be there every time to ruin your buzz. Got that?" Someone flushes the toilet and the tense mood is slightly broken. She starts to leave when I speak up.

"Jere, I know who you are, and it is not this person. So don't be like this." I give him one of my special looks. The one that makes him know that he is in trouble and that I am disappointed in him.

He looks guilty for a second and then gets up to leave. "I don't need this." He leaves the bathroom. Elena and I look at each other and just sigh.

Elena and I leave the bathroom, with her in front. She bumps into someone. The mysterious stranger from before. He is tall and muscular with brown hair and green eyes. My earlier assumption is right. He is attractive, but by the looks he is giving my sister, totally into her. "Uh, sorry…This is the men's room, right."

"Yes, um. I was just- We were just…um." My sister stumbles over her words.

"My sister is trying to say that we were in the bathroom, because of our brother and some family issues. It's kind of a long story. We are going to get going." I start to walk away with Elena following, but then Elena and the new guy run into each other again. They both try to go the other way, but run into each other again. I am trying really hard not to laugh. He lets her pass. We then walk to class.

"He was totally checking you out," I say to my twin.

"Shut up."

* * *

><p>Throughout the day, in every class that they share, Elena and Stefan were exchanging glances. I think that it was cute, but slightly annoying. Elena is the pretty one. I am the smart one, so Elena gets all the guys. I have had a few boyfriends, but Elena always gets the guy. Most of the time, I don't mind, but on certain days it is just annoying.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2

A/N: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You guys are amazing. I really expected like 2 people to read this. Thank you guys for all your support. I will try to keep updating as fast as I can. This took me shorter than I was expecting. I worked on it all day, so that I could get it out to you guys. I really hope you like it. I apologize for any mistakes.

Disclaimer: (I forgot the first time.) I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I only own the characters of Alliana and Emilia. Anything you recognize is not mine.

Ch.2

Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, Stefan and I were sitting around a table at the Grille. Elena and Stefan were sitting next to each other sneaking glances. Bonnie and I were sending looks to each other. We knew exactly what Elena's and Stefan's glances were about. I thought they were very cute. Caroline was questioning Stefan like the police question a suspect.

"So you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah. I moved when I was still young." Stefan replied.

"Parents?"

"My parents passed away." He first looked to Caroline and Bonnie, then to my twin for a much longer time.

"I'm sorry." Stefan nods to her.

"Any siblings?" I ask.

"None that I talk to." Stefan looks over to me when he replies, then back to Elena. I knew that he was totally into her. "I live with my uncle."

Caroline, trying to shift Stefan's attention back to her, tries to start another conversation. "So, Stefan, if you're new than you don't know about the party tomorrow."

"It's this back to school thing they do at the falls," Bonnie says.

"They do it every year. It's a lot of fun," I say.

"Are you going?" Stefan asks my sister.

"Of course she is." Bonnie says. Elena looks at Bonnie and then me. Her eyes asking if she should go. I lightly nod to her, telling her she should go. She looks down, brushes a piece of hair behind her, looks at Stefan, and smiles. They just smile ate each other. I know that they are going only because the other is going. I look down at my phone to check the time.

"Elena, I think we have to go. Jenna is waiting for us." I start to get up. Elena follows looking back towards Stefan.

"Yeah, I should probably be getting back as well. My uncle is waiting." He gets up and grabs his jacket. We all leave together. I walk behind them listening to music and just letting them talk. He walks us home and we thank him. We go inside and I start laughing at my sister.

"You are totally into Stefan! You guys are so cute together. You keep exchanging these glances with each other and staring deep into his eyes. I thought you guys wouldn't notice if Caroline, Bonnie, and I just left. Good thing we left before too late, I didn't want Jenna to get mad at us."

Elena was just laughing and blushing really hard. "Let's just stop talking about it."

"I am so telling Bonnie about this tomorrow."

(linebreaklinebreaklinebreak)

The next day we were in Tanner's History class. He was really hard and very mean. He also never calls on someone when they know the answer. Which means, he never calls on me. In class, we were talking about the Battle of Willow Creek, which happened in Mystic Falls. He was asking different people how many casualties resulted from this war. I knew, but as always, he doesn't call on me. I settled for texting Bonnie about Elena and Stefan, until he called on her.

"Miss Bennett?" Tanner calls on Bonnie.

"Um…a lot? I'm not sure, but like a whole lot." I was dying trying to keep myself from laughing.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." Tanner replies. She just looks down and goes back to doodling/texting me.

"Mr. Donovan." Matt looks up. "Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

"It's okay Mr. Tanner. I'm cool with it." I actually laugh at this one, but very quietly. Mr. Tanner then decides to call on my sister.

"Miss Elena Gilbert. Surely, you can enlighten us about one of this town's most significantly historical events?" My sister just looks at him with a blank face.

"I'm sorry. I don't know." I felt bad for my sister. She really didn't know, but she was also zoned out again. She was probably thinking about either Stefan or our parents. I know she might have been thinking about Stefan, because she was again exchanging glances with him earlier in class. I always know when she is thinking about our parents. As I thought more about it, she probably was not thinking about our parents. She and I always get the same face when we think about them.

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena, but the personal excuses ended with summer break." Tanner's voice broke me out of my thoughts. When he said that, I saw the look on my sister's face. I was about ready to punch him. I could feel myself getting tense. Stefan's voice broke me out of my anger.

"There were 346 casualties, unless you are counting local civilians."

"That's correct, Mister…." Tanner replied.

"Salvatore."

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

"Distant." I watched as he said this, he got a strange look on his face. I didn't know what it meant. Tanner continued on with his class.

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Tanner goes to turn back to the board, when Stefan makes him turn back towards him.

"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on a church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The Founder's Archives are, uh, stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner." The entire class, including me starts chuckling. Mr. Tanner just continued on with the class, looking kind of pissed the entire time.

(linebreaklinebreaklinebreak)

Later that night, we were all at the falls. Some people were dancing, others were making out, and most people were drinking. I was one of them. I don't really like to drink, but at these parties I have like one or two drinks. After those, I am done. I am the designated driver most of the time anyways. Bonnie and Elena were drinking more. Bonnie and I were teasing Elena about Stefan.

"Just admit it, Elena," Bonnie taunts my twin.

"Oh, okay, fine. So he's a little pretty," my twin says.

"Lena, that is a huge understatement and you know it," I say.

"He has that romance novel stare," Bonnie says.

"Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul," I tease. I start laughing at Elena's blushing.

"So, where is he?" Bonnie asks.

"I don't know," Elena replies.

"How much you want to bet that Caroline or some other girl stole him away? Or how about you tell us Bonnie. You are the psychic one," I say.

"Right, I forgot. Okay, give me a sec," Bonnie says. "Grams says I have to concentrate."

"Wait, you need a crystal ball." Elena looks around.

"What about that empty beer bottle?" I ask, while I grab it. "Ta Da. Here, try this." We all laugh. I hand the bottle to Bonnie. When she grabs it, she touched my hand. He eyes open wide very quickly. She stares at me with the wide-eye look for a few seconds. She lets go of my hand very quickly.

"That was weird," she says.

"What?" Elena and I ask at the same time.

"When I touched you, I saw a crow." Elena and I look at each other.

"What?" I ask again.

"A crow. There was fog, and a man." Elena and I just look at each other. We both knew what the other was thinking. "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There is nothing psychic about it." Bonnie grabs the bottle. Elena and I just keep staring at each other and then at Bonnie. "Yeah, okay. I am going to get a refill." Bonnie starts to walk away. I call after her. Elena and I both turn around to see Stefan.

"Hi." He says to us.

"Hey. I am gonna go after Bonnie. I will find you guys later." I walk away. I search for Bonnie. I find her with Caroline and Matt. I see my brother, Jeremy around somewhere. I know he is probably chasing after Vicki. I didn't mind her too much, because she is Matt's sister. But now that she is into drugs, I don't like her with my brother. He doesn't listen to me, though. I ignore it for now. Bonnie, Caroline, and I talk about the start of the school year and all of our classes. Matt keeps staring at Elena and Stefan who are on the bridge.

"Matty, stop staring. Be happy for her. She isn't as depressed anymore," I say to him. "You saw what she was like after the accident. She blamed herself for going and dragging me with her. I was fine, very sad, but fine. She was so depressed and she didn't want to hurt you. I am so sorry, but I like that Stefan is helping her become more herself."

He just looks towards me and takes a sip of his drink. "I know, it's just that I still love her."

"I know. She loves you to, just not in the same way. You were her first love. She will always love you. You will always love her, but you need to move on. Be happy with someone who will love you the way you want her to forever."

"Thanks, Emmy. I will definitely think about that, but for now I still believe in us."

"You are welcome Matty. Now let's get back to the party." We walk back to the party. I go to talk to Bonnie, while Matt goes to talk to Elena. I see their conversation and I know Matt won't let her go quite yet. I turn back to my conversation with Bonnie, when Caroline walks over to us and starts drinking really heavily.

"Whoa, Caroline slow down," I say to her.

"Guys are stupid." She says.

"This is about Stefan, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I am now going to drink until someone is hot enough to make-out with."

"Have fun with that," Bonnie says to her. I laugh and look over to see my brother stumble into the woods. I see Elena following him.

"I gotta go." I follow them. "Jeremy! Elena!" I call out to them. I find them with Jeremy over Vicki's body. "Oh my god." I look over to see her bleeding from her neck. "Jeremy, help me get her up. I'll put pressure on her wound, while you carry her. Elena, call for help."

We start walking back to the party with Elena calling for someone to help us. Matt and Tyler run over. Everybody tries to crowd around her. Tyler asks for everybody to give her some space. We lay her on a picnic table. My hands are against her neck. I can feel her blood is rushing out from her wound. "It's her neck. Something bit her. She is bleeding really badly. Someone grab me something to help me place pressure on her neck other than just my hands."

"Here, try this." Elena hands me something. Jeremy is trying to get her to open her eyes. I can still feel blood oozing out from her, but at a slightly slower pace. I look up to see Stefan with an alarmed face, leaving very quickly. I look back down at Vicki. Somebody eventually calls an ambulance. When they get there, they lift Vicki up on a stretcher and into the ambulance. I have washed off most of her blood from my hands. The party has mostly been cleared, because the police and animal control is swarming around this area. Elena and I watch as Matt follows Vicki into the ambulance. Bonnie walks over to us.

"Hey we are going to mainline coffee. Wait for some news," she tells us.

"I gotta take Jeremy home," Elena says.

"I'll go with you, Bon," I say.

"Guys, there is no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling…that it is only the beginning," Bonnie says. I feel slightly nervous by that, but decide to ignore it.

"I'll see you at home. Tell Jenna I will be home in a couple hours," I tell my sister.

"Okay, I will." We say good-bye and go our separate ways. I follow Bonnie and Caroline to the Grille, where we get coffee. Caroline is really drunk.

"Are you sober yet?" I ask my best friend. She lifts her head up and replies.

"Nope."

"Well, keep drinking," Bonnie tells her. "I gotta get you and Emmy home. I gotta get me home."

"Why didn't he go for me?" Caroline asks. Bonnie and I instantly know she is talking about Stefan. "You know how come, the guys that I want, never want me?"

"We are not going to touch that," Bonnie replies.

"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And…Elena always says the right thing." Caroline sighs. She doesn't even know that is exactly how I feel. "She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she is always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and I'm never the one."

"It's not a competition, Caroline," Bonnie tries to comfort her.

"Yeah, it is." Caroline replies.

"Bonnie, why don't you get more coffee. I will talk to Care Bear here," I tell Bonnie. She nods and gets up. "Care, I know that it is really hard to compete against Elena. I should know, I am her twin. I have had to compete against her for almost everything. She will always be the prettier one out of us. But we just have to hope for one day, someone to see past that. There will be someone who will see the amazingness that is Caroline Forbes. You just have to hope that he comes soon. And when he comes, you will know, because you will be his top choice." She hugs me and thanks me. "I am going to find Bonnie. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah," she sighs. I get to get Bonnie to take me home. When I get home I find Jeremy on the couch, looking at a picture of our parents. I see Jenna looking at him, silently offering her support. A beautiful picture that I will draw later. I find Elena in her room, sitting on her window seat, writing in her journal. I sit down with her.

"What are you writing about?" I ask.

"I was writing about how I wanted to change. I wanted to be better, more alive," she replies. "But, it is so hard. The bad things of the past always follow you."

"I think that you are more alive. You looked more alive than I have seen ever since Mom and Dad died. And even if you feel like the bad stuff is following you, you just have to be prepared for the good. Because when it does come, and it will, you have to be able to invite it in. We need the good stuff to come, and I know it will, so just invite it in." I nod my head out the window, towards where Stefan is standing. "Invite the good in, Lena. I'll see you in the morning." I give her a hug and go to my room. I start to get ready to go to sleep. I draw the scene with Jenna and Jeremy that I saw before. I think of all the things that have happened today. I can only hope that when my special person comes, I will be able to invite him in like I told Elena. I just have to hope that he will find me.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

A/N: Wow! I am really surprised by all the follows and favorites that this story has gotten. I wasn't expecting this at all. Thank you guys. I'm sorry that this is posted late. I do have a life that sometimes catches up to me. I'm trying to get these chapters out as soon as possible. I would love a few reviews, though. I would really like to know what you guys think about this story. Just take like 3 seconds to write a quick review. Tell me what you like, what you didn't, anything you want to see would be good. Thanks!

Disclaimer: (I actually remembered this time) I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did then a lot of people would not be dead and Klaroline would've happened a long time ago. Anything you recognize is not mine.

_Alliana was wandering around the forest. She started first by admiring it, and then wound up lost. She was about to give up and just start calling for help when she stumbled upon a small clearing. The clearing was a field filled with wildflowers. The sun was shining brightly in the field, making the colors look very bright and vibrant. Alliana sat in the field, looking at the clouds, making flower chains and daydreaming. She didn't notice the person watching her. She turned around and spotted their silhouette._

"_Hello. Who is out there? You don't have to stand in the shadows," she calmly spoke to the person. The person walked out into the sunlight. "Oh. Hello, Elijah. Is that correct? You are one of Rebekah's older brothers."_

"_Yes, that is my name. Hello, Alliana."_

"_What were you doing just standing in the shadows?"_

"_I was wandering around the woods, when I walked here. I saw you just calmly sitting there. I was not in the shadows for very long."_

"_I love it here. It is very calm and peaceful. I love the beauty of it. I could spend all of my time here." She looks towards the lowering sun. "Oh, it appears I have spent a much longer time here than I expected. It is very late in the afternoon. I have to return to my aunt to help with supper." She gets up to leave. Elijah follows._

"_Here let me accompany you. I will help you to get home safely."_

"_Thank you. I am glad you asked. I feared I may have become lost."_

"_There is no need." They start walking through the forest. Elijah leading, with Alliana following closely behind. They walked across branches and rocks. Elijah helping Alliana over very tricky terrain. They still continued their conversation._

"_Have you happened across this place before?"_

"_Yes, it is my place to think."_

"_Oh, I apologize if I have intruded."_

"_No, it is fine. I do not mind sharing from time to time."_

"_I love to lose myself. Just let myself be free like a bird. I wish to be able to fly, to be able to go anywhere. I would also like to be free from time, to never age. I would love to have all the time in the world to see new things and meet new people."_

"_That is a wonderful daydream, I suppose."_

"_You do not have to be serious all the time Elijah. I apologize for being forward, but would you like to be my friend. I will help you learn to have fun."_

"_Yes. I would like that."  
><em>

I woke up the next morning. I got dressed and ready for school. I walk out my door to see Jenna talking about how she looks to Elena.

"Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" Jenna asks Elena.

"Depends on where you are going," Elena replies.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference. Hair up or down?" Jenna pulls her hair up into a ponytail.

"Sexy stewardess," I say, joining the conversation. Elena looks over to me and smiles. She looks more herself than I have seen in a really long time. I knew Stefan was a good influence. Jenna puts her hair back down into its regular copper ringlets.

"Boozy Housewife," my sister says. I laugh.

"Up it is." Jenna says. "You are feisty today."

"I know, right?" I say.

"I feel good, which is rare. So, I have decided to go with it," Elena says.

"Amen to that. Fly free, sister. Walk on sunshine and all that," I say. "Where is Jeremy?"

"He left early." Jenna says, fixing her hair, while looking in the mirror. "Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse." Elena and I both pause, with confused faces. "There is no wood shop, is there?" I shake my head.

"He is probably checking on Vicki. He saved her last night, when she got attacked by an animal. He is totally into her. I am sure he is fine."

(linebreaklinebreaklinebreak)

After Tanner's class I walked quickly past my twin and Stefan talking. They were again making googly eyes at each other throughout class. I heard a quick snippet of their conversation. Something about the Bronte sisters and their pseudo-names. I love reading their stories. Stefan apparently has one of the original copies. I know my sister would love to read it. I quickly walk to my best friends who were walking the opposite direction. They were in different conversation. They were again talking about Bonnie being psychic. I still don't quite believe it, even after that whole episode last night.

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" my bubbly, blonde best friend says.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something," my brunette best friend says.

"Whoa, that would be so cool. Imagine if you were a witch. You would have so much cool power," I say to them. I join them, walking towards our next class.

"I don't know. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was kind of looped on the liquor, so I kind of tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches, I don't think so," Bonnie says.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night." Caroline says.

"I didn't see him. Neither did Emmy. Only you did him," Bonnie says.

"Why didn't you talk to him?" I ask Caroline.

"I don't know. I was drunk." We all laugh at her.

"That you were," I say.

(Linebreaklinebreaklinebreak)

Later that day, Elena and I were walking with Matt, asking about Vicki. He says that she will make a full recovery. I ask if he has contacted his mom. His mom, Kelly is never around. She was polite to me, and loved Elena.

"Called and left a message." Matt says to us. "She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend. So, we'll see how long it takes for her to come rushing home."

"I'm really sorry Matt, but how much you wanna bet that she doesn't even come home at all," I say to him.

"Well, Vicki is lucky to be alive," my sister says. We walk past Stefan who was sitting on a picnic table.

"I know. Now, there is talk about some missing campers," Matt replies.

"There sure has been a lot of missing people and animal attacks all of a sudden," I say.

My sister sort of ignores me and continues to talk to Matt. I wish she wouldn't do that. I know she doesn't mean to, but I feel she is playing with Matt's feelings. "Did she say what kind of animal is was that attacked her?" she asks.

"She said it was a vampire," Matt replies.

"What? That would either be very cool or very bad. There is a lot of supernatural talk today. With Bonnie's family supposedly descended from witches and Vicki getting attacked by a vampire, what is next? Werewolves and ghosts?" I say.

"Well, she woke up last night mutters 'Vampire' and then passes out," Matt says.

"What? That is crazy," my twin says.

"I think that she was drunk," Matt says. That would explain Vicki's episode. "So what's up with you and the new guy?" Matt asks Elena. I sigh and turn to Matt. I knew he wouldn't let go.

"Matt, the last thing that I want to do is hurt you," my twin utters. I can see Matt's face fall for one second.

"I'm actually going to go back to the hospital. I'll see you guys later." Matt walks away. Elena just sighs. I turn to see Stefan has left. That was weird.

(linebreaklinebreaklinebreak)

Bonnie, Caroline, Elena, and I were later at the Grille talking about the comet. Every 145 years, a comet passes over Mystic Falls. The last time it passed was in 1864. I can't help but imagine what life would have been like back then. I really like history. To be able to have experienced those things must have been amazing. Bonnie was talking about how her Grams said that the comet is a sign of evil. Last time it passed through the sky, there was so much death that it caused a bed of paranormal activity.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens," Caroline sarcastically replies. "So then what?" Caroline asks Elena about Stefan.

"Then nothing."

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline asks her. "There was no sloppy first kiss? Or touchy feely of any kind?"

"Nope. We didn't go there."

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends. You are supposed to share the smut." I laugh at this. Caroline is very blunt at times, which is part of the reason why she is my best friend.

"We just talked for hours."

Okay, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already. It's easy." I know she is going to say the boy-girl-sex thing. "Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Sex." I knew it.

"Profound," my twin says. She stops folding flyers for a second. I know she is thinking about it. Good thing I have music and headphones. I know when she gets up that we are going to the Salvatore's house.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asks.

"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it, instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do." She gets up to leave.

"Wait for me. You are my ride. I will just listen to music and draw until you are ready to go. Besides, I want to see their house. I hear it is really cool," I say.

"Fine. Come on them. Let's go." I follow her into the car. We drive over to their house. I have to admit that the Salvatore house is amazing, even from the outside. We go to knock on the door, when it opens. We walk into the empty house with Elena calling out for Stefan. We look around. The house is even more impressive on the inside. Very antique. I love antique things. They always have a story. We turn back to the door, when a crow flies past us. We turn around and run into a very hard chest. I look up and see the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen in my life. The man just smirks at us.

"We are so sorry for barging in. The door was open and we walked in," I say. We turn around to find the door closed. Creepy, but oh well.

"You must be Elena…and Emilia." He smiles at us. "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

"Oh, you are the sibling he doesn't talk to," I say.

Elena just looks at him confused. "He didn't tell me he had a brother."

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag. Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any minute." He leads us into their large and spacious living room. Elena and I look around in amazement.

"Wow. This is your living room?" I say.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It is a little kitschy for my taste," Damon says.

"I really like it," I say.

Damon turns to look at Elena. "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him." When he said this, I started to get suspicious of him. He seemed too keen to talk bring up Stefan's ex.

"The last one?" Elena asks.

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend?" Elena subtly shakes her head. "Oh, you haven't had the awkward exes talk yet."

Elena shrugs awkwardly. "Nope."

"Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound." Elena shakes her head. I just keep looking at Damon suspiciously trying to figure out his angle. "We all know how those relationships end."

"You seem way too eager to talk about Katherine," I say.

Elena just ignores me. I am kind of used to it now, I guess. "You say it like every relationship is doomed to end."

"I'm a fatalist." He smirks at Elena. They just ignore me. "Hello, Stefan." Elena and I both turn around to see Stefan standing behind us. He has a very strange look on his face.

"Elena. Emilia. I didn't know you guys were coming over," he says.

"I know we should've called, we just.." Elena starts.

"Oh, don't be silly. You are welcome any time. Aren't they, Stefan?" I could tell he was taunting Stefan in some way, but I couldn't tell how. My sister remained mostly oblivious. "You know I should break out the family albums, or some home movies. But, I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."

"Thank you for stopping by, Elena. Emilia." Stefan says looking at Damon. I could tell my name was an afterthought. Why am I always forgotten? I sometimes feel no one compares to Elena. "Nice to see you two."

I realize that this would be a good time to leave. Stefan and Damon clearly were having an issue. I grab my sister and say, "Yeah, we should probably go. It was nice to meet you Damon."

Damon looks to me, grabs my hand, and kisses it. I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. He does the same to my sister. We try to say goodbye to Stefan, but all he does is move away to let us pass. The entire time he was having an intense stare down with his brother. As soon as we get home, I knew exactly what to do. I went to the kitchen, opened the freezer, and grabbed the ice cream. I knew it was time for some sundaes. Elena also needed to vent about that awkward situation. Jenna walked over to us and Elena starts venting.

"He is on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena vents while making a sundae. I am eating ice cream straight from the carton.

"At least it's an ex-girlfriend issue," Jenna says. "Wait until you meet a guy with mommy issues."

"Or cheating issues," I say.

"Or amphetamine issues," Jenna adds. Elena shrugs and starts eating her sundae, when Jeremy walks in. "Jeremy." Jenna calls. He just ignores her and walks up the stairs. "Jeremy, where were you?"

"More stoner stories? Look, I get it. You were cool. And so that's…that's cool." He gives her a thumbs up and continues to walk up the stairs.

"Oh no no no." Jenna says. She throws her apple at his back.

"Ow! Why? Why did you do that?" Jeremy asks.

"Listen up!" Jenna yells at him. "Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion."

"Parental authority. I like it. Sleep tight." He says. I feel saddened to see this. Jeremy was such a great kid before all of this happened. I miss seeing that side of Jeremy. Our family would have these peaceful moments. We used to both sit around and draw. My father would work on his patients' charts. Mom would be reading or cooking. Elena would be writing in her journal or reading like our mother. I really miss these family moments. I continue to eat my ice cream.

(linebreaklinebreaklinebreak)

Later the next day, Bonnie, Elena, and I were passing out flyers for the comet that night. Elena was again talking about Stefan.

"Tonight, night of the comet," I say.

"Would you like a program?" Bonnie asks. We hand out a couple flyers to people. "He didn't call, huh?"

"Or text," my twin says. "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."

"That is an important milestone in any relationship," I say.

"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway," Elena says.

"When is it ever right?" Bonnie asks.

"I'm not ready, guys."

"Who is?" I say.

"At least I put myself out there."

"Is that what you are calling it?" Bonnie asks.

"What do you mean?" my sister asks.

"All we're hearing are reasons why you can't," I say. We turn back around to pass out more flyers.

That night I was standing with Caroline and Matt. We were holding candles to celebrate the night of the comet. Caroline handed a few to Bonnie and Elena. My candle was lit by Matt, who then lights Elena's candle. I see her turn around and lights Stefan's. The go a little ways away to talk. I know that she is trying to distance herself from Stefan, not wanting to get hurt. I can understand why she would try to do that, but I wish she wouldn't. I have seen how happy Stefan makes her and I wish she would just be happy. I go to light other people's candles. Bonnie, Caroline, and I walk around and talk. I know we are excited to see the comet. I only wish my parents were here to see it. I am trying to remember the sight of it. I hope it will be a memory that will stay with me forever.

Bonnie, Caroline, Elena, Matt, Tyler, and I were at the Grille. Jeremy walks up to us and asks about Vicki. Tyler says something about Jere being her stalker. Jeremy then says that he couldn't find her. The Tyler says something that really gets me worried and pissed.

"She probably found someone else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher. I guess you've been replaced."

"What's with the pill pusher?" my sister asks.

"Ask him" is all that Tyler says. I look over to Jeremy. He looks really mad at Tyler.

"You really wanna do this right now?" Jeremy says.

"Are you dealing?" I ask.

"She's never going to go for you." Tyler says. Ugh, he is such a dick.

"She already did. Over and over again," my brother replies. I just stare at my brother. When did he turn into this person?

"Yeah, right." Tyler says.

"You slept with Vicki Donovan?" Caroline adds. "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"

"There is no way," Tyler says.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it," my brother replies. Tyler looks mad.

"What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asks.

"Nothing, man. Just ignore him. He's a punk," Tyler replies.

"You know what? How about all of you just shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt says. Everyone splits up to go in separate directions. Elena and I grab Jeremy before he can leave.

"So that's your game now? Dealing?" Elena asks.

"I'm not dealing." Jeremy replies.

"Look, I'm sick of the tough love act. It is clearly having no impact." I say.

"You guys and Jenna. Between the group of you.."

"We can stop if you want. Send you to a therapist, where you'll be forced to deal with it. Or, to rehab, where you'll sit in a group and tell some stranger how you let your life fall apart. Or you could talk to us." I say.

"I vote for none of the above." Jeremy says as he walks away. Elena and I just look at each other. We are both beyond frustrated with Jeremy. We go home calling for Jeremy. We find Jenna searching through Jeremy's room.

"It's only me. Hypocrite patrol." Jenna says, standing up straight.

"What are you doing?" Elena asks her.

"I have become my worst nightmare. The authority figure, who has to violate a 15-year-old's privacy." Jenna looks around the room until she spots Jeremy's bag. She searches through it until she finds Jeremy's stash. "Jackpot. I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative." She lifts up Jeremy's shoe, where she must have found it.

"What brought this on?" I ask.

"Your ass-hat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday," she replies.

"Oh, you got Tannered. Been there," I say, while sitting down on one of Jere's seats.

"'Discover the impossible, Ms. Sommers.' Got it. Thanks, like I didn't know I was screwing up."

"You are not screwing up, Aunt Jenna." I say.

"Yes, I am. You know why?" We both shake our heads. "Because I'm not her. She made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you guys. I can't do it. I'm going to say or do the wrong thing and he is going to get worse and it is going to be my fault." Jenna says this with tears in her eyes. "It is impossible."

"That is just the fear talking. You're a little scared. That's all," Elena says.

"The same goes for you, sister." I say. "We all are." I know as I say this she has reconsidered her thing with Stefan. "Go to him." I whisper to her.

"I have to go do something." Elena says. Jenna nods her permission. "But are you going to be okay?"

"We'll be fine. Go." I say. I hug Jenna and we go downstairs. We watch some television for a while until I go upstairs to my room. I finish my drawing of Jenna and Jeremy. I also work some more on the one of my parents. I think about them a lot, and the thought of me still makes me sad. There are some days when all I want to do is escape. To be free of the past, like my sister said a little while ago. I feel so lost without them. I'm so scared that no one will find me.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took longer. I am going to try to have an episode a chapter. These may take a little longer. Please be patient. Thank you guys so much.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

A/N: Thank you guys for all your favorites and follows. Again, a few more reviews do not hurt. I'm sorry for being like every other author and asking for reviews, but I would really like to know what you guys think about this. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. Anything you recognize is not mine.

_Alliana was running through the forest. She now knows her way through the forest. She spots a good place to hide. She starts to quickly climb the tree. She hears footsteps coming in her direction. Closer and closer they come. She hears a voice calling for her._

"_Alliana. Come out now. You know I am going to find you soon," the voice tells her. She tries to blend in even more. The person walks away from her. She sighs in relief and climbs down from the tree._

"_Got you!"_

_Alliana gasps in surprise. "Fine Kol. You win this time." Kol laughs and stands up proudly._

"_You actually took a little bit longer to find. I found Henrik very quickly."_

"_That is because Henrik does not know the best hiding spots. I do know where they are and can then hide from you."_

"_Yes, but I got you to reveal yourself, did I not?" Kol asks._

"_Of course you did, because you are Kol the almighty trickster." Alliana teases him._

"_Do not boost his ego. It is big enough already," a different voice says behind her. Alliana turns to find Elijah and Rebekah. "It is, of course, quite alright to tease him about it," Elijah says._

"'_Lijah, that is just mean," Kol replies._

"_But so very true," Alliana adds. Kol just pouts and the other three people just laugh at him. _

"_Since it is so difficult to find Alliana, she must be the seeker this time," Rebekah states. All agree very quickly._

"_Very well, but Elijah has to play with us this time," Alliana says. Elijah tries to refuse. Henrik walks up at this time._

"_Elijah is actually going to play?" He asks excitedly. Elijah looks to Henrik and then to Alliana who is making pleading eyes at him. He concedes. Alliana starts to count, while everyone hides. She counts for a minute before going to search for everyone. She finds Henrik quickly behind a log, because he was laughing. Kol was found next, because his foot was sticking out from a bush. Rebekah was found behind a boulder. She got bored and started to braid her hair more. Elijah was harder to find. He kept switching behind different trees. Eventually, Alliana just starts walking slowly around the area which Elijah was hiding in. Elijah gets very confused as to why she was not really searching for him._

"_Why are you not trying harder to find me?" He asks._

_Alliana simply smiles and states, "If I find you, then the game would be over." He simply laughs. "I don't want to stop playing the game, yet."_

I was getting out of Bonnie's car at school. I was again talking about Stefan with Bonnie and Elena, who was constantly the topic of discussion these days. We were at school and Bonnie was trying to warn Elena about something.

"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow," Bonnie says.

Elena looks at her and I, "You guys were the ones who said go for it."

"I am all for you going for it. Bonnie is the one who is saying 'take it slow'," I say.

"Why the about-face?" Elena asks Bonnie.

"It's not an about face. You are single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field," Bonnie replies.

"Yeah, because Elena is totally that girl," I say defending my sister.

"Seriously, what are you not saying?" my sister asks Bonnie.

"It's stupid," Bonnie says trying to brush us off. We all stop and turn to her.

"Bonnie, just spit it out," I say.

"I accidently touched Stefan and got a really bad feeling," she says, looking kind of guilty and embarrassed.

"Is that it?" Elena asks. I could tell Bonnie was feeling bad about this, but I really like Elena being with Stefan. Bonnie tries to walk away when Elena grabs her arm, "Bonnie!"

"It was bad-bad." Bonnie tries to defend herself.

"Is this the whole witchy mojo thing again?" I ask.

"You know what I am just concerned. This is me expressing concern about one of my best friends' new boyfriend," Bonnie says.

"And I love you for it, I do." Elena says while she grabs Bonnie's shoulders. They smile at each other. "But I feel good. It's been a hard year, for both of us, and I am starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what, Stefan is a big part of that." Bonnie just sighs. We continue to walk towards the school and our classes, when Stefan walks over to us.

"Good morning, Elena," he says. "Good morning, Bonnie, Emilia."

Bonnie just starts to walk away. "Um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone."

I turn to her. "Hey, wait up. I'll come with." I turn back to Stefan and Elena. "We'll catch you guys later." Bonnie and I keep walking towards school.

We were in Tanner's class. He was asking about different important dates in history. Most of which I knew, but as usual he ignores me.

"World War II ended in…..Anyone got anything?" Mr. Tanner asks. I raise my hand, but he ignores me. "Miss Juan?" Carla Juan just shrugs.

I finally get fed up and just blurted it out. "1945." I hear Elena and Stefan whispering next to me about the football team. Elena starts giggling when Tanner asks her a question.

"Miss Elena Gilbert?" She turns around to face the front of the room and Tanner. "Pearl Harbor?" Of course he couldn't just ask me. Elena tries to come up with an answer she obviously doesn't have. Stefan just answers for her.

"December 7th, 1941." Elena smiles at him.

"Thank you, Miss Elena Gilbert." Tanner says, stressing her name.

"Anytime," Stefan replies.

Tanner must have seen this as a challenge, because he replies with, "Very well. The fall of Berlin Wall."

Stefan simply answers, "1989. I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you?" Tanner asks. Stefan nods. "How good? Keep it to the year." Here is the challenge apparently. "Civil Rights Act."

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"'68." Tanner starts walking closer and closer to Stefan each time he mentions a new event.

"Lincoln."

"1865"

"Roe vs. Wade"

"1973"

"Brown vs. Board"

"1954."

"The Battle of Gettysburg"

"1863"

"Korean War."

"1950-1953"

"Ha! It ended in '52." The entire class chuckles. Tanner goes back to the front of the classroom.

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53." Tanner turns around to Stefan.

"Look it up, somebody." Tanner says through clenched teeth. The entire class moves to look it up. "Quickly."

Kyle, another kid in the class looks it up on his phone and says, "It was 19…53." The class tries to clap, but it winds up being kind of pitiful. I am very impressed. That was kind of awesome.

Afterschool, Elena and I go to cheer practice for the first time since our parents died. I knew we were going to behind, because we missed summer camp, but I learn these things pretty quickly. We are walking over to Bonnie who was stretching. I clear my throat loudly and Bonnie turns around and spots us.

"Oh my god! You guys are here!" She says while hugging us both.

"Yep. We can't be these sad girls forever," I say.

"The only way to get back to the way they were, are to do things that were," my sister says. We start to stretch. "Oh, and you are both coming to dinner tonight."

"We are?" Bonnie and I say.

"Mhmm. You, me, Emilia, and Stefan." Bonnie's face falls. Elena turns to see her face. "You have to give him a chance."

"But tonight's no good." Bonnie complains. Elena and I just give her a look. She changes the topic. "Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."

"I have been texting her too. She hasn't answered me either." I say.

"Don't change the subject, Bonnie Bennett. You're going to be there," Elena says.

"Fine! I'll go," Bonnie replies. Elena looks at me.

"I'm cool with this. This should be interesting," I say.

"Good," Elena says. We all continue to stretch. I am actually starting to worry about her. She always answers my texts and calls, but today she isn't. I am seriously curious as to where she is. Bonnie starts to think along the same lines as I was.

"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie asks.

"I don't know. It's not like her." My twin says.

"Try her again." I say. Bonnie sighs and picks up her phone to try to call Caroline. Bonnie doesn't have to finish that call, because Caroline comes driving up in an awesome convertible. We all turn to face Caroline and what looks like Damon, who were kissing in his car. A car that I really want to have or drive. If only the owner wasn't such a creeper.

"That must be the mystery guy from the Grille." Bonnie says.

"That's no mystery guy," my sister says.

"That's Damon Salvatore." I say.

"Salvatore, as in Stefan?" Bonnie asks.

"Yup. His older brother," I say. Caroline gets out of his car and saunters over.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." Caroline says as she passes by us. She walks over to the front of the group. "I'm sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the Double Pike Herkey Hurdler. What do you say?" I look over at Damon who just smirks at me. I roll my eyes at him and focus back on cheer practice. We were doing a routine to STARSTRUKK by 3OH!3 ft. Katy Perry. Elena and I were struggling with it. I was sort of picking it up, but Elena was struggling to keep up.

Caroline notices her struggling and says, "Elena, why don't you just observe today? 'K?" Elena just stops and goes to the back. "Keep going! Okay. Do it again. Let's go. And 5,6,7,8." Elena watches and tries to copy the moves to learn them. I have picked up most of the routine by the second time we got through it. Elena gets distracted and leaves partway through it to watch the football practice. I guess Stefan joined the team after all.

Bonnie, Elena, and I were getting ready for dinner. Bonnie was again talking about being psychic or a witch. Elena was getting food ready. I was sitting on the counter, listening to Bonnie, and drawing. I was drawing my best friends, Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena in one picture. Bonnie was going on about predicting a commercial.

"You explain it," Bonnie says. "Last night, I was watching 'Nine-O,' a commercial break comes on, and I'm like 'I bet it's that phone commercial!' and sure enough it's that guy and girl with the bench. He flies to Paris, and he flies back. They take a picture."

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop," Elena says. She hands a platter of food to Bonnie to help her unpack it.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today, I'm obsessed with numbers. Three numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?" Bonnie says.

"Maybe we should play the lottery," I say from my spot on the counter. Elena and I laugh.

"Have you talked to your Grams?" Elena asks.

"She just gonna say it's because I am a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?" Bonnie says.

"I don't want to be a witch," my twin says.

"I would like to be a witch. Imagine just what you could do. You could bring someone to their knees with a wave of your hand. You could probably explode things with your mind, or make someone fly across the room. Just imagine how powerful you could be," I say sort of wistfully. Elena just keeps putting the food into nice bowls.

"Putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody," Bonnie tells her.

"Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" my twin asks.

Bonnie answers before I could tell her. "Middle drawer on your left." Elena gives her a look and opens the drawer. She takes out the serving spoons. We both look at Bonnie astonished.

"Okay, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times," Elena says.

"Yeah, that's it," Bonnie says.

"Especially since you live here and you didn't know where the serving spoons are," I say.

"You are the one who uses the kitchen to cook. I'm not in here as much," Elena replies. The doorbell rings before I can answer her. "Okay, he's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving self." Elena leaves to go answer the door. Bonnie just stares at me wide-eyed for a few seconds. She puts down the serving spoon she was holding.

"Birthday candles," she says. She waits a second and opens the drawer. I hop down from the counter and rush over to her side. Sure enough, the birthday candles were in the drawer.

I look to her and smile. "That is so cool!" Bonnie just kind of stares at me. Elena then walks in with Stefan and we sit down to eat.

The dinner was kind of awkward. We were all sitting around the table, picking at our food. I try to start another conversation, "So Stefan, I heard you joined the football team."

My sister adds on, "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?"

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right," Stefan replies. Elena and I chuckle.

Elena turns to Bonnie. "Bonnie, you should've seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and"

Bonnie interrupts, "Yeah, I heard." We all kind of look around awkwardly. I try to start a conversation again.

"So Bonnie why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" I say.

Bonnie turns to him. "Divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Stefan just nods his head.

"No, I meant about the witches," I say. "Bonnie's family is supposedly from a lineage of witches. I think it is super cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie says.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800's," Stefan says.

"My family came by way of Salem," Bonnie replies.

Stefan looks at her with an interested face. "Really. Salem witches?" He asks her. Bonnie just nods her head and smiles, slightly embarrassed. "I would say that's pretty cool." He says to Elena and I.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie asks Stefan.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and non-conformity," Stefan replies.

"Yeah, they are." Bonnie says.

"See Bonnie. I told you witches are cool," I say. The doorbell rings.

"I wonder who that could be." Elena says as she gets up and gets the door. I stay at the table and started to clean up. Stefan gets up to find out who was at the door. I go to find out myself when Caroline enters.

"Hey. Damon and I brought dessert," Caroline says. I love my best friend, but I don't like Damon. I did not really want him here, but with my sister dating Stefan, I guess I will have to deal with Damon.

Everyone was sitting in the living room. We had eaten dessert and were now just relaxing. Caroline was going on about Stefan joining the team. Damon was still being very strange. Everything he says seems to have a double meaning. I stopped focusing on Damon and went back to listening to my best friend.

"I cannot believe Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it," she says.

Damon adds in, "That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."

Caroline decides to also add in, "Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp, even though Emmy got it. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." My best friend can be kind of cruel sometimes.

Bonnie decides to add in, "I'll work with her. She'll get it."

Caroline being her decides to open her mouth again, "I guess we can put her in the back."

Damon says, "You don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena."

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." Caroline says. Then, she finally realizes what she said was mean. "And I say that with complete sensitivity."

"I'm sorry, Elena. And you too, Emilia. I know what it is like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Again, what is with the double meanings? Why is he saying things like that?

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan says.

"Ah, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up," Damon says. I knew he was taunting Stefan about something. When Damon says this, I know that something happened between both of them and Katherine, Stefan's ex-girlfriend.

"Which is exactly why you brought her up just now," I say sarcastically. Damon just kind of looks at me puzzled. Damon then just smirked at Stefan.

I was doing the dishes. Everyone else was in the living room just relaxing. Damon walked over.

"One more," he says. He goes to hand me one glass. I try to grab it when it slips, and Damon grabs it quickly.

"Wow. Good reflexes," I say laughing. "Nice save."

"I like you and your sister. You guys know how to laugh. And your sister makes Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time."

"Earlier, did you mean Katherine?" I ask as I put a dish in the dish washer. Damon grabs it from me and puts it in for me.

He answers me with a "Mhmm."

"How did she die?" I ask.

"In a fire. Tragic fire," he replies.

"Recently?"

"Well, it seems like it was yesterday."

"What was she like?"

He takes a moment to answer. "She was beautiful, much like you and your sister in that department." I roll my eyes at this. "She was just very complicated and selfish, and at times not very kind. But very sexy and seductive." Oh, I get it now.

"So which one of you dated her first?" I ask while handing him a plate.

"Nicely deduced," he says. "Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine."

"Oh, is that the reason for the double meanings behind almost everything you said. You want to get back at Stefan for falling in love with her as well, which probably caused something to happen, which eventually lead to her death." Damon just looks at me. He changes the subject.

"I'd tell your sister to quit cheerleading if I were you."

"Why would you say that?" I say sort of defensive towards him.

"Oh, I saw you guys at practice. You looked fine, but she looked miserable."

"You saw that too, huh?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Nope. I love to dance and cheer, and Elena used to love it. It was fun. Things are different. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore, not to either of us. There are still things that I love to do, but things are different for Elena."

"So don't let it. Tell her to move on. You do the same as well. Problem solved. Ta-Da."

"Some things could matter again. I know writing still does, maybe cheerleading will too."

"Maybe. But…seems a little unrealistic to me." I thought about it for a second.

"I'm sorry." Damon just looks at me. "You lost Katherine too." Bonnie and Elena walk in before he can answer to help with the dishes. Damon leaves to go back to Caroline and Stefan, who were still in the living room. Eventually, Caroline joins us as well. We all just were hanging in the kitchen until it was time to leave.

The next day, Elena and I were getting ready for the game. I was already ready to go, other than my hair. Elena was staring at her uniform, dressed in her towel. I could tell she was debating whether or not she should actually keep going. I knew this was a good time to talk to her.

"'Lena. I think we need to talk."

"Yeah, what's up?" she asks.

"I think you should really talk about you and cheerleading."

"What about it?"

"'Lena, you are not happy doing it anymore. We aren't the same girls as we were last year. Our parents died and that changed us. Writing just isn't the same for me as it was when Mom and Dad were alive. Cheerleading just isn't as fun as it was for you anymore, and that is okay. You aren't totally different. You are still my older sister, my twin. You still love writing in your journal and gossiping about stuff with Bonnie, Caroline, and I. I am still Lia. Your little twin sister. I still love drawing, music, dancing, and cheerleading. But I don't want to write my stupid little stories anymore. I will leave the writing to you. It is what Mom would've wanted anyway. You were always the better one at it. You no longer have to do cheerleading anymore. You don't have to do the same things you used to do to be normal. You just have to be yourself and be happy."

"I love you, 'Lia." My sister says as she hugs me tight.

"I love you too, 'Lena. I'll let you decide what to do. But first, can you please do my hair? You have always been so good at it."

"Sure."

That night, I was at the bonfire for the game. I was standing with the other cheerleaders, while my sister was standing off to another side, not in her uniform. I knew that was going to be her decision, while she was doing my medium-brown long hair. She was pulling it into multiple braids that all went into a high ponytail, when she paused for a second. I knew that was when she made the decision.

At the bonfire, we were cheering for Stefan and the rest of the football team. I could tell Tyler was getting pissed. I knew he and my brother were having an issue, so when I saw Tyler head over towards my brother, I knew there was going to be trouble. I could see Jeremy was drinking, and I couldn't help but feel disappointed. It is my fault that he is acting this way. Maybe if I had focused more on Jeremy after our parents died, he wouldn't be acting like this. I could only hope that no one would be too hurt after this. I could see Vicki trying to stop Tyler, but it wasn't deterring him. I saw the fight start by Jeremy punching Tyler. The dick probably said something to Jeremy to set him off. It was probably about Vicki. I could see them trying to beat the crap out of each other. Elena and I, along with many other people, walked over to try to see what is going on. I could see Tyler punching my brother while he was on the ground. Stefan grabs Tyler's arm before he could keep punching Jeremy. Tyler punches Stefan in the stomach, but Stefan just doesn't respond. Or he just doesn't hurt him. Tyler stares at Stefan's reaction. This gives Jeremy enough time to grab a broken bottle that must have shattered before. He grabs a piece and stands up. Tyler again tries to fight Stefan, but Stefan just knocks him away. He pushes him away right as Jeremy slashes the broken bottle piece. I see it cut Stefan's hand. Jeremy stares at Stefan. Matt gets Tyler away to calm him down. Elena and I go straight to Jeremy. I check him out while Elena goes back to Stefan. When I look away for one second to check on Stefan, Jeremy leaves. I look around, but first check on Stefan. I look at his hand, which doesn't seem to be injured. Odd. I could've sworn he got hurt.

I go back to the other cheerleaders. Tiki, one of the other cheerleaders, was having trouble keeping the sign up. Caroline and I both go to help her. I could see my twin talking with Bonnie. I was curious, so I ask Bonnie.

"Hey, what were you and Elena talking about?"

"She was asking about the weird feeling I got when I touched Stefan."

"What was it?" I ask.

"It what I imagine death to feel like," she replies.

"Wow. Creepy," I reply. "I have to go find Jeremy. He is injured and escaped from me earlier. Can you cover for me with Caroline?"

"Yeah, sure. Good luck finding him," Bonnie says. I smile at her and start looking around. I look in the bleachers, around the field and all over, but I can't find him. I finally look by the locker rooms. He wouldn't be in the locker rooms, I know that. I go to look behind the locker room building when I see something I know I shouldn't have. I see Damon with his mouth on Tanner's neck. I see Tanner drop when Damon removes his mouth. I only see Damon's face for one quick second while he turns around, but what I did see looked so scary. His mouth was very bloody and his eyes were dark. It looked like something out of a horror movie. I run away from that spot trying to understand what just happened. I can't understand what happened. I just try to continue to look for Jeremy. I hear a little while later that the game is cancelled. Tanner got attacked by an animal. My only question was did it happen before or after Damon was there? Everyone clears out when they hear the game is cancelled. I find Jeremy behind the bleachers with a cool can against his face. I saw Vicki a little walks away. I knew they had some sort of touchy feely conversation. I nudge Jeremy with my foot and sit down next to him.

"I know you are into her, Jeremy. I don't mind you defending the honor of a girl. That is very noble and good. But next time, try not to get your ass kicked and then run away. I don't want to have to search for you and wonder if you are okay. I do that enough. I don't like you drinking or doing drugs, but if Vicki makes you happy, I don't mind if you spend time with her," I say. I give a side hug to my kid brother. "Let's go. I'll clean your face up when we get home." We both got up off the ground. We walked back to the car, where Elena was hugging Stefan. "Hey, Lena. Hey, Stefan."

We drove home. Elena went upstairs to write in her journal and go to sleep. I cleaned up Jeremy's face with the first aid kit. As soon as I was finished, he rushed to his room. Jenna was in her room too. I went to my room as well. I kept working on my drawings, while listening to my music. I thought about what I saw. I still don't really believe what I saw. It was very dark and I only saw it for a couple seconds. It couldn't have been anything bad at all. I fell asleep with that scene flashing through my head.

_A/N: I am so so sorry. I have been sick and really busy, so I haven't been able to get this out. I hope the length makes up for it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review. I will try to get the next chapter written and published really soon._


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5

A/N: To start, I would like to say "Wow." I am still dumbstruck by the amount of followers and favorites this story has gotten. You guys have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you for all your support and well wishes when I was sick. Enjoy the next chapter of this story.

_Alliana had just finished her chores. Rebekah, Kol, and Henrik all still had to work for a little while longer, so Alliana was by herself. She was walking in the forest, because she couldn't think to do anything else. She loved to wander, because she always finds amazing things. She was walking further upstream of the river than she normally walked. She followed the river upstream as the land increased its incline. She moved away from the bank of the river to walk to the top of the hill easier. Finally, she reached the top, where the land flattened out more. She looked over at the river and found it to be a waterfall. _Oh, this is the waterfall which Rebekah spoke of the day we met, _she thought. She was about to step forward to look closer at the waterfall, when she spotted someone else here._

"_Hello," Alliana said to announce her presence. The person turned around. She realized the person was Niklaus. He was sitting on a log, slightly hunched over. He just turned back around, ignoring her._

"_I am sorry if I have offended you in some way, because it was not my intention," Alliana said._

_Niklaus turned back towards her. "You have not offended me."_

"_Then why do you ignore me? I love to spend time with your siblings, other than Finn and yourself. I have not seen Finn very often, but he always greets me when I do. You however, ignore me every time I try to talk to you," Alliana replies._

"_Then why do you not go back to my siblings?" Niklaus asked as he turns back around._

"_They are all busy. So I decided to take a walk. I then found myself here and now I have decided to talk to you," Alliana replied._

"_Why?"_

"_Because I would like to get to know you."_

"_Just leave me alone." Niklaus grumbled. Alliana sat down on a rock, close to Niklaus. She sees that Niklaus was sketching. She stayed quiet for a while, and watched as Niklaus continued to sketch. She saw it to be a picture of a horse._

"_That is a beautiful drawing. Do you like horses?" Alliana asks._

"_Yes."_

"_I love horses, especially the ones that you can find in the wild. They are so beautiful. They are majestic and loyal. So gentle and so strong at the same time, wouldn't you agree?"_

"_Yes, I would." Niklaus smirks at her._

"_Do you like to draw?"_

"_Yes."_

"_I think the ability to draw something is truly amazing. You can capture the beauty of something and be able to keep it forever, even if the thing changes."_

"_Yes, that is what I love about drawing. It helps me escape as well."_

"_See, now I have gotten to know you and spend time with you. I very much enjoy it. You can join us when we play games. I believe Kol cheats. Maybe you can help me outsmart him and catch him."_

_Niklaus smiles a true genuine smile. "I would like that."_

"Scum Fell… Scum Bucket…" Jenna says while looking at the TV. Okay….

"Who are you talking to?" I ask.

"Him." Jenna replies. I look at the television.

"The news guy?" I ask.

"Also known as Logan "Scum" Fell." Jenna says. "Did your mom ever tell you why I moved from Mystic Falls?"

My mom said she moved away because of some guy. Wait…"Oh, no way. You and him?" I look back at the TV. "He is kind of cute."

"He is not cute. There is nothing cute about him." Jenna turns off the TV. I look at the box I found in Mom's stuff.

"What are you doing with that?" Jenna asks.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box," I say while cleaning some thing I found in it. "Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the Founder's Council for their Heritage Display." Jenna picks up one of the wedding rings.

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?"

"Originally it was great great grandma Mary's wedding ring," I say as Jeremy walks in.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" He says as he picks up another thing from the box.

"You are not going to find out." I say as I take it from him. "This stuff is Mom and Dad's. You can't just give it away."

"I'm not giving it away." Jeremy says as he walks into the kitchen.

"It's called a loan, Jeremy." I say to him. Jeremy just rolls his eyes as he opens the refrigerator. The doorbell rings. I can hear Elena coming down the stairs.

"I got it!" Elena calls. I get up from the chair I was sitting and peek at who was at the door. I find Elena and Stefan kissing. There's the answer to that question. I go back to the kitchen and continue to clean the stuff in Mom's box. I remember Mom going on about this stuff. She was the one who really encouraged me. She was so supportive of my love of history and really nurtured it. This was our favorite founder's party. She would take me around to look at all the displays since before I could remember. The founder's parties remind me of my mom.

I keep cleaning and polishing all of the stuff I found in Mom's box when the doorbell rings. It must be Mrs. Lockwood coming to pick up the stuff. I grab the stuff and go to the door. I see Jeremy grabbing the door. When he tries to close it, I know it is Tyler. Tyler blocks the door from closing.

"I'm here for my mom. I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff," Tyler says.

I say, "Right here," as I hand the box to him. "Please be careful."

"Yeah, be careful with it, dick." Jeremy says.

"Hey! Not now, guys," I say. I lightly smack Jeremy on the arm and give him another look.

"I'm fine. He's just being a punk," Tyler says.

"I got your punk." Jeremy says defensively.

"Look, Tyler, maybe you should go. Tell your mom that I'll see her tonight," I say. I turn back around and go back to the kitchen. Bonnie is there with Elena talking about nail polish.

"Delicate Flower vs. Naughty Vixen," Bonnie says.

"Tough call. Can we mix them?" Elena asks.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date." I tease my twin.

"You seem happy-ish," Bonnie says.

"I am…ish." Elena replies. I move to sit next to her at the table. I look at all the nail polish colors. I'm thinking something to match my dress for tonight. "Tonight is going to be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door," my sister continues.

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night," Bonnie says. She looks at the nail polishes.

"Bonnie, out with it," I say.

"Okay, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed," Bonnie says. Elena and I both looked at each other, then look at Bonnie. This should be interesting. "Apparently, Stefan has a very interesting backstory." Elena and I both nod. "Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know they both dated her and that's why they have issues," Elena says.

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon," Bonnie says.

"That sounds like one person's side of the story," Elena says.

"Meaning Damon's," I say.

"I just wanted you to know," says Bonnie.

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business."

"Unless, he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business," I say. I pick up a base coat to start doing my nails.

"Stefan is none of those things," Elena says.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Bonnie asks. Elena thinks about it. I wait for the base coat to dry before picking up the color I chose for tonight and start painting my nails. After we paint our nails, we continue to get ready. Bonnie curls her hair, while Elena and I do our makeup. The phone rings and she goes to pick it up. I hear her side of the conversation. She is talking to Mrs. Lockwood about something being missing, I think.

"What's wrong?" I ask. I follow her into Jeremy's room, where he is listening to music while on his computer. Elena knocks his headphones off.

"Ah! God, what now?" Jeremy says.

"The pocket watch, where is it?" Elena asks.

"What watch?" Jeremy asks. He tries to untangle himself from the wires of his headphones.

"The one you stole from Mom's box. Look, Mrs. Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it."

"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler did it," Jeremy says.

"Don't even play that card Jeremy. Did you take it?" I ask.

"If I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?" Elena says.

"Elena!" I say.

"Screw you." Jeremy says. He gets up and grabs the watch from behind his stereo on his bottom shelf. "I would never sell this, okay?"

"Then why did you take it?" Elena asks.

"Because it's supposed to be mine," Jeremy replies. I remember this watch now.

"Dad says it goes to the firstborn son," I say.

"His father gave it to him, and now what?" Jeremy says. He hands Elena the watch. He goes back to his computer.

"He was going to give it to you," Elena says.

"Yeah," Jeremy says. Elena leaves. I grab the pocket watch from her.

"Look, Jere, it's still yours. Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood. What are we supposed to do?" I say.

"Just take it and get out," Jeremy says.

"I promise to get it back to you," I say. Jeremy puts his headphones back on. I discreetly leave the pocket watch in his room. I go back to Elena's room where to finish getting ready. 

I go with Bonnie to the party. Elena went with Stefan and Caroline went with Damon. Bonnie is wearing a light colored, flowery halter dress with some beading on the straps. Her hair is curled and she looks really good. Elena is wearing an orange, shiny strapless dress. It has multiple shades of colors of red, orange, and some yellow with some shiny parts. Her straight hair is pulled into a half ponytail and clipped. She is wearing the necklace that Stefan gave her. I am wearing a pale purple, spaghetti strapped dress with silver beading above the waist. My long, medium-brown hair is left down in its natural waves. I am wearing black eyeliner and light purple eye shadow to bring out the green tint in my medium-brown eyes. A plain shimmery lip gloss completes my look. I think that we all look really good.

Throughout the party I divided my time between hanging out with Bonnie, looking at the exhibits and hanging out with Elena. I haven't seen too much of Caroline. I was looking at the registry from the original Founder's Ball with Elena. She was remarking on how many familiar names there were.

"Sheriff William Forbes." Liz Forbes, Caroline's mom is now sheriff.

"Mayor Benjamin Lockwood." Richard Lockwood, Tyler's father, is mayor today. That is really interesting.

"Damon Salvatore." What. I looked at the names more carefully. Stefan Salvatore was on there too. Now that is definitely cool. Damon walks over with Caroline.

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually," Damon says.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past," Stefan says.

"It's not boring, Stefan," Elena says. "I'd love to hear more about your family."

"I love stories of the past. I find them fascinating," I say.

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance," Caroline says. I would hand out with her, but I want to hear the story. I can always find her later. "And Damon won't dance with me." Dmaon shakes his head. "Can I borrow your date, Elena?"

Elena kind of just looks shocked and tries to stammer out an answer. Stefan cuts in.

"I don't really dance."

"Oh, sure he does." Damon interjects. "You should see him. Waltz, the Jitterbug, the Moonwalk. He does it all." Damon seems eager to get his brother to dance.

"You wouldn't mind. Would you, Elena?" Caroline asks.

"It's up to Stefan," my sister replies.

"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer," Caroline says. Caroline grabs Stefan's hand and leads him away. We all watch them leave.

"I want to apologize to you, Elena, for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you," Damon says.

"What?! He tried to kiss you and you didn't tell me. I think I should feel offended," I interrupt.

"I'm sorry-," Elena starts.

"I forgive you, but next time I want all the details," I interrupt.

"Well, there's no excuse for that," Damon says. "My therapist says I'm…acting out, trying to punish Stefan."

"For what?" Elena asks.

"I bet this is about Katherine again," I say.

"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that all the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers," Damon says. "The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here-"

"The Battle of Willow Creek." I interrupt.

"Right," Damon says to me.

"I know. We talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside. They apparently believed it to be housing weapons inside. There were 27 civilians that died," I say.

"What the history books left out was, the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident," Damon says. He circles to the other side of me and my sister. He walks to another exhibit. It was a model of a church. I'm guessing that is the church that the civilians were in. "They were believed to be Union sympathizers. So, some of the Founders on the Confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

"I bet it was a woman they wanted to save," I say.

"Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" Damon asks.

"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but I can't get in the middle of it, Damon," Elena says. Damon looks down for a second with a slight guilty face. He looks up when Elena continues, "I just….I hope you two can work it out."

"I hope so too," Damon replies. They both go to leave. Elena looks back at me.

"Go ahead. Go find Stefan. I am going to keep looking at all the exhibits," I say. Damon and Elena walk off. I continue to look at all the interesting stuff. I see so many antique things. There are some things from all the Founding Families. Some silverware from the Forbes, some paintings and pictures from the Fells, the whole house is filled with antique things of the Lockwoods. I look one more time at the original registry. I see one more interesting name. Katherine Pierce.

Later at the party, I find Elena and Caroline in the bathroom touching up. Caroline was fixing her earrings and redoing her makeup. Elena was also redoing her makeup. I hear them talking.

"So, how are things with Stefan?" Caroline asks. She grabs her lip gloss.

"Great. Just great," Elena says. She redoes her lip gloss.

"Really? Well, my radar must be off, because I was getting all sorts of other vibes," Caroline says. She leans forward to also redo her lip gloss. Her scarf moves and I see a mark on her neck.

"What is that?" I ask. I try to grab her scarf to see it better when she tries to block me.

"Don't!" Elena holds her for a second while I move her scarf. There is a bite mark on her neck.

"Oh my god, Caroline, what happened?" My twin asks. Caroline again pushes away.

"Nothing, okay?!" When she moved, her knit bolero cover slipped. She pulls it back up.

"That isn't nothing. Did somebody hurt you?" I ask.

Caroline turns back to the mirror. "No, okay, nothing." She retouches her makeup. "It's just…my mom would kill me."

I pull her bolero away. Another bite mark is revealed. "Did Damon hurt you?"

Caroline stands straight up and fixers her cover. "No! Of course not!" Elena goes to pull the bolero away again. Caroline pushes her off and grabs all her makeup. "Just leave me alone, okay, Elena and Emilia?! God!" She walks away.

"Go tell Stefan, now!" I tell my sister. We both rush out of the bathroom. Elena goes outside to find Stefan. I spot Damon. I march over to him. He looks at me and starts to smile in greeting. I rush to him and push him hard. He stumbles back. "There is something seriously wrong with you. Caroline is my best friend. If you hurt her again, I will beat the crap out of you! Better yet, stay away from her! Stay away from her or I will go straight to her mother, the sheriff. You got it?" I give him my best glare. I swear he looks scared for a few seconds before he masks it. "Stay away from her!" I walk away from him to try to control my temper. He is lucky I didn't beat the crap out of him now. I see Elena and Stefan talking out by the fountain. I walk while trying to control my breathing. I was shaking from anger, but I started to calm down. Nothing gets me madder then when people hurt or threaten my friends. I see Elena and Stefan in an intense conversation, so I leave them be. I start to walk slowly around the grounds, calming myself down. I walk back to the party and spot someone lying in the grass. I rush over and find it to be Caroline. She was unconscious. I kept shaking her to get her to wake up. "Caroline, wake up!"

She eventually becomes conscious again. She slowly sits up. I grab her stuff and slide over next to her. My knee hits something. I pick it up. It is an amber crystal. It was a diamond shape inside a circular, bronze antique setting. It was different, but pretty. I just put it in Caroline's bag. I help Caroline get up. She seems fine. "Hey are you okay? You had me really scared."

Elena comes walking over to us. "Hey, there you guys are. I've been looking everywhere for you guys."

Caroline tries to slow down her breaths to calm herself down.. "Caroline, are you okay?" I ask.

Caroline seems to be okay for a second, but doesn't stay that way. "Yeah, I'm fine." She fixes her scarf.

"Caroline, what happened?" My sister asks.

Caroline's breathing starts to speed up. "I'm fine. I'm fine. No." Caroline starts to sob.

"Care, you're shaking. Caroline, what-" I start to ask.

"I'm fine!" Caroline tries to reassure herself, but I can see she is falling apart. I pull her into a tight hug. She starts sobbing into my shoulder. I look over at my twin.

"I'm going to take her home. I might stay with her for a while. Can you tell Jenna and go with her?" I ask my twin.

"Yeah, sure," she quickly replies. Caroline keeps sobbing. I hold her until she calms down slightly. I take her to her house. Her sobs have slowed down to mostly silently tears. Every once in a while she chokes out another sob. Each time is longer before she chokes out another sob, so I know she is calming down. I help her into her room and some pajamas. Her sobs have slowed to silent tears. I know this must have been very bad to reduce my bubbly, optimistic best friend to a sobbing mess. I stay with her until she cries herself to sleep. I leave her a glass of water and go home.

My house is relatively quiet when I get home. I quickly get ready to go to sleep. I felt so drained and tired. I think for a few moments about the day. I remember the name I saw earlier, Katherine Pierce. I thought how ironic it was that Stefan's name, Damon's name, and at least the first name of their ex-girlfriend were all on the registry from 1864. My thoughts drifted to what life would have been like back then. 

AN: I would again like to thank everyone who has followed, favorite, and/or reviewed this story. I would like to give a few quick shout-outs. I would love to thank Midnight172013R who has reviewed on every single chapter and gave me some great ideas for future chapters. I would like to thank some guest viewers that reviewed. I'm sorry I don't know their names, but thanks whoever you are. You guys know who you are. I would finally like to thank whitedwarf for giving me the best review so far. It was really long and gave me a lot to think about. I can't wait for what you think about this and future chapters. Thank you to all who have even bothered to read this story!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A/N: Hello all. Again, thank you for all your support. I am still getting notifications about people who follow and favorite this story. Thank you all. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

_It had been many months since Alliana had moved to the village. She spends most if not all of her time with the Mikaelson family. Rebekah was her best friend. She was also very close with Elijah and Niklaus. They were all the best of friends. There was one happy day that the whole Mikaelson family can remember. They remember it because it was the last happy day the family truly enjoyed._

_Alliana started the day by doing her chores with Rebekah. They fooled around while doing them. They talked about the boys in the village and wove flowers into their hair. Rebekah spoke of a boy who had caught her eye. While Rebekah spoke, Alliana kept her thought of her own love to herself. Rebekah noticed this, but refrained from calling it out at this time. They spent the rest of their time laughing._

_Next, Alliana spent some of her time with Finn. They do not often spend time together, but when they do, they enjoy it. They spend their time together that day contemplating their lives and talking to each other. Finn believed that Alliana was wise beyond her years but still a child in her heart. They talked about a variety of topics, including their families, strange dreams, hypothetical situations, their wishes, and many other topics. It was very calming and peaceful._

_Later, Alliana spent time playing tricks with Kol. They had the grandest time playing tricks on the people of the village. They made one man slip in a puddle of water and accidently hit another man. They made certain women lose certain possessions. They generally had a great time together, laughing and joking._

_After, she spent time with Henrik. They played games in the forest. Kol and Rebekah joined them towards the end of their time together that day. Henrik gave Alliana a carving from wood. She promised to always keep it with her. Alliana also gave him advice for when he was older. She told him to always be true to himself, but be kind towards others. She also told him to never change, because he was such a wonderful boy._

_Then, she spent time with Niklaus. He taught her more about how to draw. He told her about all that inspires him. They laughed about all the things they had done with Kol. They enjoyed their time together, like everyone else did. They drew pictures of each other and showed them to the other person. Niklaus' was better, but neither of them minded._

_Sometime later, she spent time with Elijah. They played games and spent time together in their spot, the spot where they met. They simply enjoyed being in each other's presence. No words were necessary between them. They just relaxed and watched the sun slowly sink down the horizon._

_Finally, she spent time with Esther. The woman became a second mother. They, along with Rebekah made the final meal of the day. Esther hummed while she worked and Alliana joined along. They talked about being a witch and a healer. The women joined the men of the family and they all joined together to eat the delicious meal. The entire family laughed and talked. They were all simply happy. The last time it happened for over a thousand years._

I woke up the next morning and started to get ready. I walked into Elena outside the bathroom.

"You don't want to go in there," she tells me.

"Why?" I ask.

"Vicki is in there," she explains.

"Oh. Okay." We walk downstairs together. Jenna is sitting in the kitchen. She is writing something. "Jenna. Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?" I ask her.

"Uh-huh," Jenna replies. She doesn't even look up to respond.

"And you have no objection?" Elena asks. Jenna looks at us.

"He could be craftier about it. At least make an effort to sneak her in and out," Jenna says. Elena and I start making breakfast. "Oh, and, uh, just so you know, I won't be home for dinner." Jenna finishes speaking while going back to writing.

"Oh, so you are actually going to do it. You are going to go on a date with _Logan_," I tease her.

Jenna looks to me. "I am going to show up and torture him, yes." We all chuckle. "Elena, have you heard from Stefan?" Jenna asks. I am curious about this as well.

"Not since he left that very vague message three days ago," Elena replies. She does a bad impression of Stefan's voicemail, "Hi, um, Elena, I, um have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days." I was chuckling into my bowl of cereal.

"Haven't you called him?" I ask.

"Nope," my twin replies. "Not going to, either."

"And you're okay with everything?" Jenna asks.

Elena puts down the carton of milk that she had just poured into her cereal. "No, I'm not okay with any of it. But I'm not going to cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning, and then I thought, what am I going to write?" Jenna and I just listen to her mini-rant. "Honestly, I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls that whose world stops spinning because of some guy." Elena shoves a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"Okay then," Jenna replies.

"I'll be fine," Elena says. She walks away. I finish my cereal and quickly grab all my stuff for school. I shout a hurried good-bye to Jenna before I left.

Bonnie, Elena, and I were watching Caroline as she described the Sexy Suds car wash to other girls. She looked as if nothing had happened at all.

"Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened," Elena says.

"She's in denial," Bonnie says. We all just look back at Caroline. It's almost kind of freaky how normal she looks. She looks as if the party did not happened, which is really surprising considering how she broke down at the party. I am actually a little worried about her. Stefan walks up to us.

"Hey," he greets us.

"Hey. You know, Bonnie and I have to be somewhere. Right now," I say. I grab her and we leave Elena and Stefan to talk.

Later, Elena comes home from the Grille. She told me about how she and Stefan were supposed to meet at the Grille for him to explain, but he showed up over an hour late. I could tell she was really disappointed in Stefan. She also look very sad. I could see how my sister was reacting, and I got an idea.

"Lena, can I borrow your phone for a second?" I ask her. She hands it over. I quickly find Stefan's number and enter it into my phone. I handed her back her phone. She quickly went up to her room. When I was sure she was out of earshot, I dialed Stefan's number. It rang a few times before Stefan picked up.

"Hello," he said.

"Stefan, hi. It's Emilia."

"Oh, hi."

"We need to talk. I know what happened between you and Elena. She told me. My sister is very big on trust. She doesn't want to get hurt. But, she likes you and you are hurting her by not being honest with her. Just go and tell her about yourself. Show her that she can trust you. Show me that I can trust you to not hurt my sister anymore. Because if you do, I _will_ beat the crap out of you."

"Okay, I will."

"By the way, my sister's favorite food is Chicken Parmesan. I'm sure you can handle that, _Salvatore_," I say before I hang up. I wait for someone to knock on the door. I open it to find Stefan there. I point to the kitchen. "Kitchen's that way. I hope you guys can leave some leftovers for me." He nods in acknowledgement. I head upstairs. I sneak a peek at my twin in her room. She is hugging her teddy bear on her bed. I sneak past her room. I poke my head in Jeremy's room. He was chilling on his computer. Vicki was with him.

"Jere, I need you to do something," I tell him.

He looks over to me, then to Vicki and shrugs, "Sure."

"I need you to get Elena to go downstairs. Stefan is down there cooking for her. Don't tell her that he is here. I want it to be a surprise," I tell him.

He shrugs again and replies, "Sure. No problem." He gets up and goes to Elena's room. I see her head downstairs a minute later. I give Jeremy a high five when he walks back to his room. I head to mine.

The next day, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt, and I were at the car wash. There were a lot of girls in bikinis and shorts and shirtless guys. Caroline was wearing a pink spotted ruffled bikini that had string in the middle that tied around her neck and shorts. Bonnie was wearing a greenish brown halter bikini with pretty stitching that had zigzags and light plaid shorts. Matt was wearing a black wife-beater and black swim trunks. Elena was wearing a black and purple bikini, but covered it with a white tank top and red shirt. I was wearing a teal halter bikini with light green stripes and jean shorts. I was washing cars with Bonnie and Matt. Caroline was explaining to Elena how to work the money. Which meant that she was telling her not to give any freebies or pay you later's. That type of thing. Stefan walked up to them. He took off his hoodie, while Elena struggled to take off her red shirt. He helped her and they kissed. Matt slowed down washing the car to watch them. I noticed him doing it.

"Nuh-uh. None of that tortured pining stuff," I say to him.

He turns back to washing the car. "I'm just observing," he says.

"Yeah, sure you were," I say sarcastically. Another car drives up. Bonnie calls out to Tiki, another girl on the cheerleading squad.

"Tiki! This one's yours."

She walks over and gives the car a loo. "Why do I always get the homely ones?" She asks as she grabs something to wash the car with. The owner gets out of the car. "Just to be clear, your car's a P.O.S. I mean, we can still wash it, but it's still a P.O.S."

"You don't have to be rude," Bonnie says to her.

"Rude is uglying up the road with that junker," Tiki says. What a bitch. The owner of the car throws the keys in the car and walks away. Tiki leans down into the bucket of water to grab something to wash the car with. She grabs a hose to fill up the bucket with water. I see Bonnie go very still, watching Tiki. Bonnie goes in almost a trance. I walk over to her to snap her out of it, when the water in Tiki's bucket explodes. Everyone flinches backwards away from Tiki and the hose that was spraying all over. Tiki was squealing and Bonnie and I just smirked at her. Matt rushes over to Tiki, helps her turn off the hose, and hands her a towel. She was soaked.

"Wet and wild, Tik," Matt says to her. Bonnie and I share a smile at seeing Tiki's miserable and annoyed face at being soaked. I think about her trance moment for a second.

"Bonnie, that wasn't you, was it?" I ask her. We both turn back to washing the car.

"How could it have been?" She replies.

"Maybe you really are a witch. Has anything else strange happened to you that you could have done with your special witch powers?" I ask her. She pauses for a second and I know something else did happen. She then goes back to washing the car. I wonder what it was.

Bonnie and I keep washing cars together. I saw Jenna talking with Logan Fell, the news guy. They looked like they were getting along well. I saw Elena and Stefan washing cars together and talking. I also saw Elena get abandoned by Caroline at the pay station. I see Elena talking to an old man. It turns out to be Tiki's grandfather. I walk over to Elena and ask her what was going on. She gets up and again talks to the old man. I see her talk to Stefan for a few minutes before I follow her when she talks with Jenna. Logan walks over to all of us and greets us.

"Hi. Elena and Emilia, right? I think I met you two once when you guys were nine." He shakes both of our hands.

"Your emotional maturity level when we were together," Jenna says.

Logan turns to her. "Ouch. Here I thought we were making progress."

Elena cuts in. "Is he enough in your good graces that I can ask him for a favor?" She asks Jenna.

Logan turns to Jenna. "If I do her a favor, will I get back in your good graces?"

"A very reluctant maybe to both," Jenna replies.

Logan turns back to my twin. "Done. Wait. One condition." He turns to Jenna, "Dinner, tonight, your house."

Jenna looks to the both of us. We urge her on with our eyes. "Fine. But you're eating leftovers," she says as she turns to Logan.

"It's fine. The leftovers are actually really good," I say.

Logan chuckles. "What do you need?" He asks my sister.

"Do you have access to old new stories, say, fifties?" Elena asks.

"Yeah, at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we pretty much have everything."

"I have this report that is way past due. It'd be a lifesaver." She is totally lying and I am going to find out why.

"Heading there now," Logan says.

Elena smiles. "Let's go."

"I'll come with," I say. Logan walks away. We turn to Jenna. "If anyone asks, you don't know where we went. We don't want Caroline after us if she knows we left." We quickly grab our stuff. I see Elena look over at Stefan washing another car. I put my shirt on and we leave.

Logan, Elena, and I were at the news station. Logan was explaining how to work everything. He got a phone call and left. But not before he asked us to put in a good word for him with Jenna. After he leaves, I finally get the chance to ask what this is all about.

"An incident from 1953, at the Salvatore Boarding Hose, if it even happened," Elena replies.

"Why, may I ask?"

"Yesterday, at the Grille, this man came up to Stefan and me and said he knew him. Stefan said that he must have been mistaking him for someone else. When I talked to the man today, he told me about this incident in 1953."

We looked up a couple searches, but couldn't find anything. Elena then tried one more search and something popped up. We watched a video of an old newsreel from 1953. It was about an animal attack at the Salvatore Boarding House that ended in the death of Joseph Salvatore. In the background, we saw a shadow of a person that looked very similar to Stefan. When Elena paused the video, we got a closer look at the person; we could see it was Stefan. I turn to Elena.

"How is Stefan in the 1950's and still looks exactly the same today?"

"I don't know."

We drove home in silence. I followed her into her room. I sat on her bed while she started to pace.

"Lena, talk to me. We can figure this out."

"Okay. I'm not a believer. You know this. But how can I deny what is right in front of me?" Elena says.

"Someone who never grows old, which is why he still looks the same as he did in the 1950's and why his name was on the original guest registry list," I say.

"Someone who never gets hurt," Elena says.

"His hand. When Jeremy missed it with that broken beer bottle, he didn't actually miss it. Stefan's hand just healed."

"Someone who can change in ways that can't be explained. His eyes darken in a way that can't be explained."

"Girls bitten. Caroline had bite marks all over her body. Bodies drained of blood. Vicki in the woods on the night of the bonfire. Matt said she said that a vampire attacked her."

"Lia, what if Stefan and Damon are vampires?" I thought about it.

"It makes sense," I say. "Lena, I just remembered something I saw. The night of Tanner's death, I saw Damon with his head on Tanner's neck. I think he was drinking his blood." I start to get a little nervous. "I thought it was just a joke. That it was just a trick, that it was too dark to really understand what I saw. I now understand it though. I saw Damon Salvatore feeding on the blood of Mr. Tanner." I say as I stand up. "If we are going to confirm this, we need to go straight to the source."

"Stefan," Elena says. She looks down. I can tell she is thinking about it. She grabs her stuff and I know we are headed to the Salvatore House. "Let's go." We head out and drive over. Elena and I rush out of the car when we arrive at the house. Elena knocks on the door and Stefan opens it.

We look at him and Elena asks, "What are you?"

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. My schedule is clearing up some, so updates may be sooner.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7

A/N: I'm sorry this has taken awhile. I kind of got distracted. ADHD sucks. But I'm back and with another chapter. Longest chapter yet. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I keep forgetting this. Nobody sue me for that. I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters. I do own Emilia, Alliana, and any other OC's that I create. From now on, if I forget this, just know that I still mean it.

_It had been many weeks since that one happy day. Alliana was spending time with Rebekah and Henrik. She could hear the clashing of blades not too far off. Rebekah and Henrik both noticed._

"_Come on Alliana, Henrik. Elijah and Niklaus are fighting again," Rebekah said as she ran off. Alliana and Henrik soon followed her. Niklaus pushed Elijah back with his blade. They circled around each other waiting for the next person to strike._

"_Oh, look. Sister and Alliana have arrived to watch my fast-approaching victory," Elijah said._

"_On the contrary, Elijah," Niklaus said as he pointed towards Elijah with his sword. They again started to battle. Swords clashed as they danced around each other in battle. Finally, Niklaus used his sword to cut Elijah's belt. Elijah just looks down at it. "They've come to laugh at you."_

_Alliana started to giggle first, with everyone else joining in soon after. Niklaus smiles at her. Esther and Mikael had walked up during the battle. She was carrying a basket while Mikael just had a stern look on his face. Esther was trying to calm Mikael down._

"_Relax, Mikael. Niklaus means well," Esther said._

"_That is precisely my problem," Mikael replied. Mikael walked up to Elijah. As he does, the smiles and laughter cease. Mikael just held his hand out to Elijah to give him the sword. Elijah handed it to him and just stepped back. _

"_So…" Mikael said, walking slowly around to face Niklaus. "Why don't you teach me that trick, young warrior?"_

_Mikael slashed his sword at Niklaus, but he defended himself. "Father, we were just having fun," Niklaus said._

"_We fight for our survival. And you find time for fun?! I want to have fun! Teach me! Come on," Mikael said, shouting at him._

"_Father, it was nothing," Niklaus replied._

_Mikael kept slashing his sword at Nik, who was having a harder time trying to defend himself. Alliana looks away at some point and only looks back when the battle slows down. Mikael pushed Niklaus' sword away and jabs him in the legs so he falls on his back. Pointing his sword at Niklaus' neck while kneeling on him he said, "You are foolish and impulsive, my boy. What? No more laughter?"_

"_You've made your point, Mikael," Esther said._

_Mikael yelled and stabbed his sword into the ground, right next to Niklaus' neck. "Some days, it is a miracle you're still alive…boy." Mikael gets off of Niklaus and walks away. Niklaus leans his head back relieved._

_Niklaus, Rebekah, Elijah, Alliana, and Henrik were all spending time together later that day. Mikael saw this and looked around to see that Esther was not near. He took the opportunity. He grabbed Niklaus, dragged him a little ways away, and started punching him. All over Niklaus' body, Mikael punched him. He walked away for a second and grabbed a whip. Alliana turned away from the action. After a few cracks of the whip onto Niklaus' body, Mikael walked slowly up to Niklaus. "That was for earlier. Now you know to never do it again." Mikael then walked away._

_Niklaus got up, bleeding from many places and ran as fast as he could away. Alliana followed him a few seconds later. She followed him to the spot by the waterfall._

"_Are you alright, Niklaus?" Alliana asked him._

_Niklaus just turned away from her. She walked closer to him and could see that he was bleeding on his face._

"_Niklaus! You are bleeding!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him to a spot further upstream, right by the river. Alliana ripped part of Niklaus' already torn shirt and dipped it in water. She started to clean off his face. "I apologize for this."_

"_It is not the worse he has done," Niklaus somberly replied._

"_He has done this before? Why has no one done something?" Alliana asked._

"_It is none of your concern."_

"_Of course it is. You are my friend and I want you to be happy and safe." Alliana said as she looks into his eyes. Niklaus could see the worry in her eyes, and smiled at her. He liked the fact that someone cared. Alliana smiles back and they just sit there smiling at each other._

"What are you?" Elena asks. Stefan just stands there holding the door. "What are you?" Elena asks again. I could feel that she was scared.

Stefan just swallows and clenches his jaw. "You know."

"No, we don't," Elena replies. I did, but I think she is having a harder time accepting it and needed confirmation.

"Yes, you do or you wouldn't be here," Stefan says.

"It's not possible. It can't be," Elena says, shaking her head.

Stefan puts down a wooden stake that he was holding in his hand. Elena steps back. "Everything you know…and every belief you had is about to change. Are you ready for that?"

"What are you?" Elena asks for the final time.

Stefan looks between the two of us and takes a deep breath. "I'm a vampire." I knew it. As scary as it is, it is kind of cool at the same time. I could tell my twin did not feel the same way. I could see her confidence deflate slightly.

"We shouldn't have come," Elena says.

"No. Please," Elena says as Stefan steps forward. Every time he steps forward towards my sister, she steps back. Elena runs away towards the car. Stefan appears in front of her. I could see their exchange, but I quickly grab the wooden stake before I walk to my sister. I could see when she gets in the car, and I quickly run into the passenger side. We quickly drive away. Elena runs into the house when we arrive there. I walk into the house and set the stake in the drawer in the side table next to the door. I might need that stake soon.

I walk up the stairs and I see Elena rush out of her bedroom terrified. She sees me and grabs me. She drags me into her room and pulls me onto the bed. Elena tells me what happened just now between her and Stefan. She explains how Damon is the one who was killing all those people and how Stefan does not drink human blood to survive. She also told me how we have to keep this secret. I could tell while she was explaining to me what happened, that Stefan really cares for my sister.

Elena breaks down while she was explaining and starts crying. All this has really got her scared. She cries herself to sleep. I go downstairs to the kitchen. The house is quiet, so I make myself a cup of tea and sit out on the porch swing. I see someone in the shadows, leaning against the house. "I am sorry for how my sister reacted. It is a lot for her to take in."

The person moves and steps into the light. I knew who it was even when he was just in the shadows. Stefan seems the type to stand outside my sister's bedroom to make sure she is okay.

"I was expecting her to react like that, but I hoped she would take it better," Stefan says.

I move the tea bag in my cup. "My sister had her whole world turned upside down tonight. Give her some time. She will come around."

"You are taking this surprisingly well," Stefan says as he comes to sit next to me.

"I already knew of the possibility that vampires exist. It wasn't such a big of a shock to me as it was to my sister." I take a sip of my tea.

"Do you think that she will forgive me?"

"I know she will. It was a huge shock to her, but she will get used to it. She also cares for you enough that I know she will learn to adapt to this idea."

"Why are you not scared?"

"My sister explained what you said to her. You care for her so much and you would never hurt her. You have also had the chance to hurt me for some time, and you haven't so I think you won't." I took another sip of my tea.

"How did you know of the possibility of vampires?"

"I read a journal of one of my ancestors. I really like history, so I thought it would be cool. In it he talks about vampires. At first, I thought he was crazy. Then I thought about it, and it didn't seem as far-fetched as I originally thought. But still it is Johnathan _Gilbert's_ journal, so who knows." As I said the name of my ancestor, Stefan's face fell into a guilty looking one. I saw it change. "As I see your face, I can tell you know. Did you know him?"

"Yeah, I did." Stefan replies. I could see that he didn't really want to talk about it.

"Well, I have to go. I will see you tomorrow." I say as I get up, finishing my tea. "Don't worry about Elena. She will understand eventually." I go inside, rinse my cup, and go quickly to sleep.

The next day, I followed my sister to the Grille. There we sat at a table with Stefan.

"You said that you would explain everything. That's why I asked you to meet me here. When you google 'vampires' you get a world a fiction. What's the reality?" Elena says.

"I can tell you whatever you want to know," Stefan replies.

"I know you eat garlic," Elena says.

"Yes," Stefan replies.

"And somehow, sunlight's not an issue."

"Hi, here are your drinks," the waitress says handing our coffees to us. Stefan replies when the waitress is out of earshot.

"We have rings that protect us."

"Crucifixes?"

"Decorative."

"Holy water?"

"Drinkable."

"Mirrors?"

"Myth."

"You said you don't kill to survive," I say cutting in.

"Animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon. It can be very powerful."

"And yet, you let him get involved with Caroline?" Elena asks.

"Lena, Damon seems the type to retaliate when he doesn't get what he wants," I say.

"Emilia's correct. Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous. Believe me," Stefan says.

"He was hurting her," Elena says, leaning in towards Stefan.

"He was feeding on her." Stefan replies, leaning forward on the table to try to conceal what he was saying better. "He was able to take away memories her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have."

"Is that supposed to make it okay?" Elena asks.

"No, no none of this is okay, Elena. I know that." Stefan replies. Elena takes a breath and tries to process this. Stefan leans back in his seat.

"Are there any others, aside from you and Damon?" I ask.

"Not in Mystic Falls. Not anymore," Stefan replies.

"Not anymore, so there was a time when vampires were in Mystic Falls," I say.

"There was a time when this town was…very much aware of vampires, and I didn't end very well," Stefan says. "That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone."

"I can't promise that," my twin says.

"I can," I say.

Stefan looks at me and smiles. He turns back to my sister and leans towards her. "Elena….give me today. I will answer any questions that you have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourself what you want to do with what you know. It'll be your choice."

Elena looks over to me. I nod to her and she turns back to Stefan. She nods to him and he silently sighs in relief. We get into Elena's car and Stefan directs us where to drive. We drive up to a place in the middle of the woods. Stefan gets out of the car first. He walks around for a few seconds, looking around. I get out of the car; I look around, and finally recognize the place. We were at the spot of the old Salvatore plantation. I had read about it. My sister doesn't know what this place is though.

"What are we doing here?" Elena asks when she gets out of the car. She still stands behind the open car door.

"I want to show you something," Stefan replies. He starts to walk away. I follow him.

"In the middle of nowhere?" Elena asks.

Stefan stops. I answer my sister, while still looking around. I could see all the spots where things used to stand. I wonder what they looked like. "This didn't used to be nowhere."

I look to Stefan. He turns to my sister, "This used to be my home." Stefan looks around. My sister finally walks out from behind the car door and closes it. She walks to us and we follow Stefan. We stop in front of a brick pillar with some stone thing on top covered in vines and broken. It is beautiful, but you can tell a lot of time has passed since it was cared for.

"It looks so…" Elena starts.

"Old. It's because they are," Stefan replies.

"Wait. How old are you?" Elena asks.

"I am 17," Stefan replies.

"It isn't how old you are, it's how long have you been that age," I say.

Stefan looks down and smiles at me before looking back to my sister. "I have been 17 years old since 1864."

"Oh my god." Elena and I say at the same time. I thought it was cool, but I don't think that is what my sister was thinking.

"You said you wanted to know. I'm not going to hold anything back." Stefan said looking at my sister. When he looked away, he started to walk slowly around the property. We followed him with me being closer than my sister. "Half a century before the boarding house was even built, this was my family's home. Damon and I…we were both born here. The Salvatore brothers, bests of friends…" Stefan continues to explain how they used to play together, and something about Katherine joining them.

"You knew Katherine in 1864?" Elena asks. "Damon made it seem like-"

"Damon was trying to make you think that…I was still heartbroken." Stefan finishes her sentence. He walks in front of us, but he was looking at Elena. "He saw that I was happy with you, and he wanted to ruin it."

"All because you loved the same woman 145 years ago?" I ask.

"She wasn't just any girl," Stefan says. He then explains about how he and Damon fought over who Katherine would go to the Founders' Ball with. "She chose me. I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood mansion."

We walked to a stone bench where I sat down. "The first Founders' Party…where you signed the registry. I saw the name Katherine Pierce on that list. I thought it was funny how there was a Stefan, a Damon, and a Katherine, but I didn't think anything else about it."

Stefan nods and continues on with his story. "I didn't care that I had gotten something that my brother wanted. I didn't even care if I hurt him. I only knew that I wanted her."

My sister sits down next to me. "So he was upset."

"That's the thing about Damon. He doesn't get mad. He just gets even. What Damon wants, Damon usually gets. I didn't know it at the time, but…" Stefan walks a few steps, "Katherine was with him that night, too.

"So he stole her away from you, not the other way around?" Elena asks.

"Turns out…she wasn't ours to steal," Stefan replies. He goes on to explain how he found out Katherine was a vampire and how she compelled him to have his feelings stay the same for her, despite Katherine being a vampire. She seems like a total bitch. Elena stood up from the bench during his explanation and was leaning against a tree. "She could control my mind and Damon's. She compelled each of us to keep the secret from the other. She wanted us all to be together forever. Didn't work out that way, but…" Stefan reaches down to pick something up. "Damon and I, looks like we are stuck with each other…" Stefan unwraps something that he picked up. It turns out to be Damon's ring. "Like it or not."

"That's Damon's ring," I say.

"I took it from him, but I have to give it back," Stefan replies.

Elena walks up to him saying, "No. Don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden."

"Elena, if Damon doesn't get it he will probably retaliate in a way that will hurt Stefan," I say standing up from the bench.

"He will retaliate in the only way he knows he can hurt me," Stefan says.

Elena rolls her eyes, and asks, "And how is that?"

Stefan pauses for a moment and looks at Elena deeply. "By hurting you," he says. We all walk back to Elena's car. Stefan opens the car door for Elena. She was about to get in when she asks, "The mind control…you said Katherine used. Did you ever do that to me?"

"No," Stefan says while shaking his head. He points to Elena's necklace. "That necklace…" Elena looks down at it, then back at Stefan. "It contains an herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Damon's influence. But I also wanted to…protect you from me. Elena, you should never take that necklace off…" Stefan steps closer to Elena. "Because no matter what happens after today, no matter what you feel about me…you'll know that you were free to make your own choice." Stefan steps back and Elena gets in the driver's seat.

"That's awesome lover boy, but I am still unprotected," I say. Stefan turns to me and smirks.

"I thought about that." He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out some folded cloth. He hands it to me. "Here you go." I take it from him and unwrap it. It turns out to be a beautiful, antique bracelet. "I found this among some old boxes. I thought you would like it."

I look up at him and give him a big smile. "Thank you so much!" I give him a quick hug. "It's beautiful and I love it. It will also be protection from Damon, which makes it all the more awesome."

We walk back to the car. Stefan gets in the passenger side while I get in the backseat. We drive away from the old plantation and back to our house. We get in to find Jeremy on the ground with both Jeremy and Matt looking at a freaked out Vicki.

"What's going on?" Elena asks.

"She's really messed up," Matty says.

Stefan looks around before pulling Elena slightly away from Vicki. "Elena, back up." He looks at Vicki closely, "Vicki, look at me. Focus. You're going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay." After look at her for a few seconds, he starts ordering Matt and Jeremy what to do with her. "Guys, take her up to bed. Shut the blinds. She's going to be okay." He hands Vicki off to Matt and Jeremy who do as he says. He watches them go upstairs.

"You know what's wrong with her?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says walking back to us.

"What is it?" Elena asks.

"She transitioning," he replies.

"Transitioning into what?" Elena asks.

"A vampire," he says.

"What?" I ask astonished.

"Damon must have gotten to her. She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation yet," he replies.

"How does she do that?" I ask.

"She has to feed on human blood," Stefan says.

"And what if she doesn't?" Elena asks.

Stefan pauses before he answers, "She'll die."

Elena starts pacing, worrying over Vicki and Jeremy. "She's upstairs with him now."

"It's okay. She doesn't know what is happening to her yet," Stefan says trying to calm her down.

"So when is she going to know?" I ask. Elena stops pacing for a second to hear his answer.

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back, and then she'll know she has to make the choice." Elena leaned against the chair running her fingers through her hair. This is kind of crazy. She turns around when Stefan utters the part of his last sentence.

"The same choice you made?" Elena asks. Stefan pauses and his eyes go unfocused for a minute. He was probably thinking of past memories.

Not long after, Vicki comes rushing down the stairs and out the door. Matt goes to search for her, Stefan goes to track her, and Elena, Jeremy, and I stay to wait for any news.

Elena and I were cleaning up from dinner, while Jeremy was worrying over Vicki.

"Maybe we should check in with Matt," Jeremy says. I hand him a plate.

"He'll call when he finds her," Elena says.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Jeremy asks.

"We wait. We're supposed to wait," Elena says moving back and forth from the table to Jeremy. She picks up plates from the table and hands them to Jeremy, while he puts them in the sink, where I rinse them and put them in the dishwasher.

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Jeremy says.

"She'll be fine. It'll all be fine," I say. Jeremy makes a frustrated face. The doorbell rings and we all walk to get it. I get there first. As soon as I see who it is, I shut the door, but Damon blocks me from closing it all the way. "Jeremy, Elena, head upstairs please," I say in a deathly calm voice. Elena sends me a worried look that I mostly ignore.

"You're afraid of me. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up," Damon says. He was wrong. I was not very afraid of him. I was angry.

"Stay the hell away from me and my family," I say.

"Hey, hey, hey. There's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. Can I come in?" Damon asks pointing inside. "Oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited." He walks in the door and I back away slightly from him. He closes the door behind him. He walks further into the house and I walk until I am close to the side table. My eyes never leave him though. "We can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not going to kill you or your sister right now. That wouldn't serve the greater agenda." He says smugly. I keep my face blank.

"And you always have an agenda, don't you?" I ask.

Damon ignores my question, "So…where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki," I say angrily.

"Don't look at me with those judgey little eyes." He starts walking towards me. "Girl's going to thank me for what I did to her." I slowly back up until I am against the side table. Damon is almost in my face.

"Did you thank Katherine?" I ask fake innocently.

He smirks at me and back up. He turns around and walks slightly towards the living room. I reach behind me and start opening the drawer of the side table. "Got the whole life story, huh?"

"I got enough," I say while reaching behind me into the drawer.

"Oh, I doubt that." He turns around and walks to the door. I keep what I found in the drawer behind me. "Tell my brother I am looking for him." He opens the door and is about to leave when he leans back in through the doorway. "Tip for later. Be careful who you invite in the house."

"Wait, one more thing, Damon," I say as I walk up to him. I stab him in the chest with the wooden stake, just missing his heart. He grunts in pain, I keep the stake in his chest and get close to his ear. I whisper in his ear, "Next time you try to threaten me, my sister, my family, or any of my friends, I will be sure to dip this stake in a vat of vervain and not miss your heart. Got it?" I ask menacingly. "Thanks for the tip," I say as I pull out the stake. Damon again grunts in pain. Before he can fully recover, I am already inside the door.

Later, I see Stefan and Elena have a conversation outside on the porch. When Elena comes back in, she leans against the door and falls to the ground, crying. I comfort her and help her into her room. In broken sentences she tells me about Vicki completing her transition and how she broke up with Stefan. I comfort her until she cries herself to sleep. I walk to my room and fall asleep not long after.

A/N: To make up for the lateness of the chapter, it is extra long. I hope you like it. Send me a review. Tell me everything you think about this chapter and/or this story. Shout out to everyone who has reviewed already. Thank you to all who have read this story!


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 8

A/N: I am so sorry about the delay. My laptop broke. I now have to use a TV screen as my monitor. Then it took forever to get it fixed. I also went on vacation, sorry. I wrote an extra-long chapter to make up for it. I hope you enjoy it. I apologize for any mistakes. I was trying to get this out as soon as possible and may have missed some mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any else you may recognize. I only own my OCs Emelia and Alliana.

* * *

><p><em>A few days after the Mikael incident Alliana and Rebekah were spending time together. They were braiding each other's hair and weaving wild flowers into the braids. They were again chatting about the boy that Rebekah fancies. Alliana was only half-listening.<em>

"_Every time I see him, I can feel my heart flutter. He is so kind. I fear Father would not let him court me…" Rebekah said._

"_Uh-huh," Alliana replied._

"_You are not listening at all to me," Rebekah said._

_Alliana continued braiding Rebekah's hair. "Of course I am. You were saying about how you fear Mikael will not let this boy court you."_

_Rebekah relaxed and grumbled, "So you were listening. I was not sure, what with your head being in the clouds. I swear your head is always up there."_

_Alliana laughed. "It is so nice up here."_

"_Come back down and tell me all about the person I know you fancy," Rebekah said. Alliana went to protest, but Rebekah interrupted her. "Do not tell me that you do not fancy someone for you are my best friend and I always know when something is bothering you. So tell me, now."_

_Alliana finished braiding Rebekah's hair. She sat up and faced Alliana. "I cannot tell you. You will just tell that person," Alliana said. Rebekah opened her mouth to reply, but Alliana continued. "Even if you didn't tell the person directly, you would send these not so subtle messages to them. They will then figure it out and I would be so embarrassed. So, I cannot tell you."_

_Rebekah grabbed Alliana's hands and looked her in the eyes. "I swear to never tell your secret."_

"_Fine, only because you are my best friend." Alliana paused and took a deep breath before saying, "I may or may not fancy your brother."_

"_Which one? Which one?" Alliana mumbled a name that Rebekah did not catch. "Please speak up!"_

"_Niklaus."_

"_Oh my. You fancy Niklaus!"_

"_Sh sh. Rebekah you promised." Rebekah closed her mouth quickly. She smiled at Alliana._

"_If you married him, we would be sisters," Rebekah said excitedly._

"_I do not need to marry your brother to be your sister. You already are my sister. You are my best friend and I love you. We are so much closer than my twin and I."_

"_I love you too, Alliana."_

"_To prove it anyways, I made you something." Alliana held up a woven leather bracelet. It was woven in an intricate way with beautiful beads at the ends. "This is for you. To prove that we will always be friends and sisters. Always and Forever."_

_Rebekah took the bracelet. Alliana helped put it on Rebekah's wrist. Rebekah replied, "Always and Forever."_

* * *

><p>Bonnie and I were hanging out at her locker. Elena was skipping school to check up on Vicki at the Salvatore's. Caroline walked over to us and handed Bonnie a bag.<p>

"I have got your costume. It is all here," Caroline says. Bonnie pulls out a witch costume. I start giggling at the irony.

"Seriously?" Bonnie asks.

"Come on." Caroline says as she leans against the lockers. "Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween?"

"I am. I have my costume all picked out, so you do not have to get me one," I say to Caroline.

"Thank you." Caroline says. Bonnie pulls out a witch hat that matched her costume. She gives me a look. "I just wanna have fun, you know, just some silly, fluffy, Damon-free fun," Caroline continues.

Bonnie pulls out a crystal. The same one I found next to Caroline when she was passed out at the Founder's party. "Hey, isn't this the one you got from Damon?" Bonnie asks.

"Yep. Wear it. Toss it. I don't care. I just want it gone," Caroline says. She stands up off the lockers. "Hey. Have you seen Elena? Do we know what she's wearing?"

She looks to Bonnie. I don't know why she wouldn't turn me first, but okay. "I was with Grams all weekend. I haven't talked to her," Bonnie says as she packs her costume into the bag.

Caroline turns to me. "I saw her briefly this morning. I didn't talk to her much, so I don't know what she is wearing. I do know she is with Stefan," I say.

Caroline leans against the lockers again. "Riding to his castle on his white horse," Caroline says grumbling.

"Don't be bitter. It provokes wrinkles," I say to her. She scoffs at me. We walk to our class. I see Caroline touching her forehead as if she was starting to form wrinkles. I just smirk at her.

* * *

><p>Elena stays at the Salvatore's house all day. The next time I see her, she is talking with Jeremy. She is suggesting they go to the Halloween thing at school. They should definitely come.<p>

"Cool. Sure. Sounds, uh- sounds fun. Can't wait," Jeremy says. He sounds very bored saying this. He is pouring a glass of water for himself. He goes to walk away when Elena calls him back.

"I know you are upset about Vicki. I heard she called Matt. But you can't be with her. She needs to get better," Elena says. If I didn't know that Vicki was a new, uncontrolled vampire that could kill Jeremy, I would totally think that what Elena said was harsh. But since she is one, I kind of reluctantly agree with her. "The best thing you can do for her is let her go."

"What does that even mean 'Let her go'? Oh, okay, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?" Jeremy says.

Elena sighs. "I know you may not see it, but trust me, Jer. It's for the best," she says.

Jeremy walks up to Elena. I could tell things were very serious and Jeremy was not going to back away from Vicki. "Look, for months after Mom and Dad died, I felt like crap, like 'nothing really even mattered' crap. Now all of a sudden, I get these moments, and things started to feel just a little bit better, and Vicki was in every single one of them. So you may not see it, but trust me. Keeping me away from her is not for the best." With that Jeremy walks away.

I walk to Elena. "That was brutal," I say.

She sighs and says, "Yeah. It was."

"So, are you coming to the Halloween thing? I was just about to get ready," I say.

"Oh no! I forgot to get a costume," She replies.

"Just wear last year's. You will have to face less of Caroline's wrath than if you didn't have a costume at all," I say as I walk to my room.

* * *

><p>The party is already in full swing by the time I get there. Elena stayed to wait for Jeremy. People are in different costumes. There is spooky lighting and people shrieking all around the place. It is so much fun. I find Caroline and Bonnie at some candy station. Little kids were reaching for candy inside of the witch cauldron. They were both in witches' costumes. Caroline's costume is black and purple and strapless. Bonnie's is amber and black and has three-quarter sleeves. She also is wearing a blond wig. I see Tyler walking over to them in a cape and shirtless.<p>

"Cider for the ladies? It's a Lockwood special," Tyler says.

"No way," Bonnie starts.

I walk over. "The last time I had one of those, I was hung over until Thanksgiving."

They turn around to see me. "Ems, you look good, but you are such a lightweight," Caroline says. My costume is of a huntress. It is basically a sexy, female Robin Hood. It is a green and black dress with a green cape. The dress has thick tank top straps and goes midway of my thighs. The top is green with a black leather corset-like design. The skirt flows out to allow me to move. It is covered with a dark green cape that matches. The cape ties around my neck and covers my head. I paired it with black leather boots that go up to my knees. I have a bow and a quiver full of arrows as well. I really like my costume.

"The last time I had one was in ninth grade. I can handle my drinks now. But I am still not going to have one," I reply.

"I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with," Caroline replies as she takes one.

"Sounds like a plan," Tyler replies. They start clink their drinks together. Bonnie and I just sigh exasperatedly at each other. This is going to be interesting.

I spend most of the party with Bonnie and Caroline. I see Elena walk in wearing last year's nurse costume. She matched Matt who was also wearing last year's doctor costume. I only saw Jeremy for one second, but I could tell he wasn't in a costume. Elena finds me later. She is searching for Jeremy. Vicki is here and she is not in control. I immediately start helping her. We start to look all around school. Then, I think that they would probably be looking for some privacy. So, we go to the back of the school with all the school buses. Elena and I find them. Jeremy is screaming for Vicki to stop. She has gone out of control. "No! Vicki!" I scream. Elena grabs a plank of wood.

Vicki rushes over to Elena. Elena swings the plank of wood at Vicki's head. Vicki swats it away and pushes Elena. She launches Elena into a pile of wood. Vicki turns to me. She tries to do the same to me, but I evade her. She goes to try again but I evade her again and give her a hard kick to the chest, knocking her back. I walk up to her and give her a few quick, hard punches. She recovers quickly. She tries to rush to me, but Stefan pushes her against a school bus. Vicki pushes him away and flashes away. Jeremy calls for her right before she does. Stefan helps Elena up, who is clutching her side.

"Go. Get inside," Stefan tells us. "Go!"

We rush to the door. Elena grabs Jeremy before rushing to the door. Stefan looks for Vicki under the buses. When Elena grabs the door to open it, Vicki returns. She pushes Jeremy back, knocking him down into a garbage can filled with wooden planks. She grabs Elena and pulls her away from the door. Vicki pulls her in close and starts feeding on Elena. Elena starts screaming. I give a hard kick to the back of Vicki's knees causing her to release Elena for a second. She goes to feed on Elena again, but Stefan stabs her from behind. Vicki releases Elena and backs away slowly. A shocked look is one her face. This is one of those moments I will never be able to forget. Stefan pulls the plank of wood out from Vicki. She turns around to face Stefan, her body graying. Her last look is to Jeremy. A tear slips down her face before she collapses, dead. Jeremy starts calling out for her.

"Vicki!" Stefan grabs Jeremy before he can reach her. Jeremy calls out for Vicki from behind Stefan. Another moment I will never forget. The pure brokenness of Jeremy's screams for Vicki will haunt me for I don't know how long. Everyone just stares at Vicki's body in shock. I finally shake out of my trance and look to Jeremy and Stefan.

"Let's get him out of here," I say to Stefan. "Call your brother. This is his mess to clean up." I grab Jeremy while Stefan grabs his phone. I can hear their quick conversation. I turn to Elena as we leave. "'Lena, stay here. Someone needs to deal with Damon and Vicki's body. If I stay here, I just might kill him and I don't think your boyfriend would like that too much."

"He's no longer my boyfriend," my sister replies.

"That is not the point. You stay here, so Damon will not end up dead," I say. I grab Jeremy and walk to my car. Stefan follows. We drive home and Jeremy rushes upstairs to his room. I make him some tea and go up to his room. Jeremy is sitting on his bed crying. I put down his tea on his side table, sit down next to him and just hold him. He silently sobs. Elena joins us later. She sits in front of him and places her hands on his shoulders.

"Do you understand what happened tonight?" Elena asks.

"No," Jeremy says, tears glittering in his eyes. "I don't understand. I mean, I know what I saw, but… I don't understand." Jeremy looked so vulnerable with his arms wrapped around his legs and body.

"She was going to kill me," Elena said.

Tears continued to fall down Jeremy's face. "Now she's dead. Vicki's dead," he says.

I wrap my arms around him tighter. "I am so sorry Jer. I know what she meant to you."

Elena goes to place her hand on his face as a means of comfort, but Jeremy pulls away. "Make it stop. It hurts," he says.

"Sh, sh, sh, sh. It's okay," I say, holding him, rocking him back and forth like I did when he was younger.

"Why does everybody have to die on me?" Jeremy asks. This moment literally breaks my heart. Jeremy has been through so much in these past few months. I wish I could take away all his memories, but I couldn't do that to him.

"Oh my god. Come here," my sister says. We pull Jeremy into a sister-sandwich. Jeremy starts crying into my shoulder. I just hold him. Elena leaves, I follow her a minute later. She is out on the porch talking to Stefan.

I hear her ask, "Can you make him forget?" No, she can't do that to him.

"Elena…" I hear Stefan say.

"Stefan, please. I don't know how he'll ever get past this. I just want him to forget everything that happened," Elena says.

"He will get past this with time, not compulsion," I say. Elena turns to me for a second, and then turns back to Stefan. I could tell she was making pleading eyes at him.

"Even if I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work- because of how I am, because how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right," Stefan says.

"I can do it," I hear Damon say from behind me. I turn to face him. "If this is what you want…" He walks closer to us. "I'll do it."

"No. We are not going to do this to him," I say.

"Ems, you saw what he was like after Mom and Dad died. You heard what he said about her helping him. How is he going to get past this?" Elena says.

"It will be hard for him, I know that. But pain and suffering define us just as much as happiness and love. He needs to come to terms with Vicki's and our parents' deaths before he can finally move on with his life."

"How do you know that he will come to terms with this?!"

"He is a lot stronger than you give him credit for. He is not a little boy. He will get past this with time."

"I can't wait for that. I can't watch him suffer every day, knowing that there is something that I can do to help him." She looks at Stefan, then at Damon. "This is what I want."

"Fine. If you are so set on compelling him, you tell him when he finds out, and I know he will, that I had nothing to do with this." I walk away after I say this. I walk into the kitchen and make myself a cup of tea. I see Damon walk upstairs a little later, so I know Elena went through with compelling Jeremy. As much as I wanted to do the same thing, it was not right. Jeremy needs time to get past this naturally, not a supernatural shortcut. I just wish that Jeremy will not be too mad when he finds out what Elena has done. I go to sleep afterwards. This day has been really long and I am exhausted.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Elena, Jeremy, and I talked with Sheriff Forbes, Caroline's mom about Vicki's "disappearance." She asked us questions about what Vicki was like, did she say anything about where she was going, was she doing anything different, was she talking to anyone new, and other questions like that. I knew what I was supposed to say, but I tried to say as much as I could honestly. It winded up being that most of what I answered was honest. It almost did seem as Vicki had only ran away, but unfortunately I knew differently. Vicki was dead. I was reminded almost every time I saw Matt or Jeremy. They would never see her again. I knew my twin was feeling the same way. When we left the station, Stefan was outside. I left Elena and Stefan to talk. They totally still had feelings for each other, but I knew Elena still had some issues with certain things. This week she doesn't like all the lying. It just kind of comes with the supernatural territory. Some people have what it takes to be a part of it, others are better left not knowing about it.<p>

Later that day, Elena was wallowing on the couch. Jenna and I sat down on either side of her at the same time.

"You're wallowing," Jenna says.

"So are you," my twin replies.

"My wallow is legitimate. I was dumped," Jenna says.

"Yeah. Well, Logan's a jerk. You can do some much better," I say. I start picking at the blanket that is on my sister's lap.

"You didn't get a brushoff email saying, 'I'm leaving town. See ya.'"

"Wanna keep it down over there?" Jeremy asks from behind us.

"Why? What are you doing?" Jenna asks as she sits up and turns around on the couch to face him.

"Homework," Jeremy replies. Elena and I turn around at the same time.

"Since when do you do homework?" Elena asks. I am really puzzled by this too.

"I gotta finish this. I'm way behind, and I have a quiz tomorrow, so…" Jeremy continues his work.

Elena, Jenna, and I look at each other. "What do you think?" Elena starts. "Alien?"

"Some sort of replicant?" Jenna asks.

"Maybe a body-snatcher?" I ask.

"He can hear you," Jeremy says, looking at us. He gives us a sarcastic smile for a second, and then he gets back to work. Elena and I look at each other. What is going on with Jeremy?

* * *

><p>Later, Elena kept wallowing all day, so I called for backup. Bonnie arrived later. Together we found Elena lying in her bed.<p>

"You up?" Bonnie asks.

Elena rolls over and answers, "No." She tries to pull the covers back over her head, but Bonnie and I pull them back. "No." Elena protests.

"Why haven't you called me back?" Bonnie asks, as she sits on the bed.

"I'm sorry," Elena replies.

"Are you gonna stay in there forever?" I ask.

"Yep," my sister quickly replies.

"Move over," Bonnie says. Elena scoots over to the center of the bed. Bonnie and I lie on either side of her, under the covers.

"We are officially worried," Bonnie says. "What's going on?" I know what's going on. I just need help getting Elena out of this funk.

Elena just keeps staring at the ceiling, not looking either of us in the eye. "I'm tired of thinking, of talking. I-"

"Can I get a one line version, so I can at least pretend to be helpful?" Bonnie interrupts.

"Stefan and Elena broke up," I say.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Bonnie asks. We both just give her a look. "Right. Stupid question." Bonnie sighs. "I know I have been kind of M.I.A. when you need me the most. I suck."

"Want to make it up to me?" Elena asks. "Get my mind off of it."

"I could always use a distraction," I say.

Bonnie looks thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Just remember you asked for it." She smiles at us before getting off the bed and closing the window. Elena and I sit up on the bed. Bonnie grabs the pair of scissors on the bedside table and one of Elena's pillows. She takes the pillow out of the pillowcase and tears it open with the scissors.

"Hey!" Elena protests, but Bonnie ignores her. She dumps all the feathers from the pillow onto the bed.

"Uh, be patient," Bonnie says. Elena and I nod. Bonnie sits on the bed in front of Elena and I. "I need to swear you to secrecy."

Elena gets this guilty look on her face. I see this and say, "It's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff."

"Swear, because I am not supposed to be showing you this," Bonnie says.

"Okay. We swear," I say. Elena nods in agreement.

"Okay, there's no windows open, right?" Bonnie says.

Elena looks around, "Right."

"There's no fan, no air conditioning," Bonnie says.

"None. What are you doing?" I ask.

"Grams just showed me this. You're gonna love it. You ready?" Bonnie says.

We nod and Bonnie smiles at us. She holds her right hand over the pile of feathers. One lifts underneath her hand. I just stare at her in amazement. She lifts her hand slightly up and down a few times, the feather following her hand underneath it everywhere it goes. She lets her hand drop and so does the feather.

"Bonnie, what's going on?" Elena asks.

Bonnie just smiles at us again and rubs her palms together. She opens her hands and set them above the pile of feathers a second time. She lifts both of her hands up and more feathers lift up beneath her hands. Elena and I just gasp. I can feel the magic floating through the air. She sets her hands down again and the feathers fall back into the pile. We just look at Bonnie. She smirks at us and her eyes look up to the ceiling. Lots of feathers fly up into the air and just float around the air. Elena stands up and stares all around in amazement. I keep looking around as well. I can actually feel the magic. It is like a slight tingly feeling on my skin. Elena just starts laughing in amazement. Bonnie sits there calmly. "It's true Emmy, Elena." I look to Elena, who has her hands on her mouth. "Everything my Grams told me. It's impossible, but it's true. I'm a witch."

Elena and I look at each other before looking at all the feathers still swirling around in the air. "We believe you," I say. We all start laughing again.

A few minutes later, we had cleared away the feathers and we were sitting on the bed. "It's weird, huh?" Bonnie says. "After all this time joking about being psychic, I really am a witch." We all laugh.

"I still think it is so cool," I say.

Bonnie looks down. She plays with an extra feather. "You don't think I'm a freak now, do you?" She asks us.

"No, of course not," I reply.

"Uh, Bonnie, I just- I don't understand, though. If your Grams asked you to keep this a secret, why did you tell us?" Elena says.

"You guys are my best friends. I can't keep secrets from you," Bonnie says. Elena and I look at each guiltily. Elena then looks down, but I hide my guilt by forcing a smile on my face. I have become really good at that.

* * *

><p>Bonnie leaves an hour later. We talked for a long time and just hung out. We had a lot of fun and Elena was distracted for a while. But all too soon, Bonnie left and I was being dragged to the Salvatore house. I knew Elena needed to talk to Stefan and didn't want to do it alone, but sometimes I don't want to be dragged places. We got out of the car and rang the doorbell.<p>

A woman's voice answers the doorbell, "It's open. Come on in." Who could that be? I'm pretty sure Damon didn't have a sex change in the past couple of days, so who could it be.

Elena and I walk inside. We look around to find a woman with long, blonde hair wrapped in a towel walking towards us. That must be the woman who answered the door. She stops as soon as she sees my twin.

"Oh my god," the woman says. Elena just looks at her. "How, uh…wh…who," the woman stutters out. She holds up a finger as she stutters.

"I'm Elena. This is my twin sister, Emilia," Elena replies.

"Hi! Who are you?" I ask.

"Lexi, a friend of Stefan's," the woman replies. The fact that she is in a towel and a friend of Stefan's is kind of suspicious, but I am not one to judge.

"Is he here?" Elena asks.

"He's in the shower," Lexi replies. That makes it look like they slept together, but Stefan doesn't seem the type. "Do you want to wait?"

"No," my twin replies. I think she is thinking the same thing as I am. But I think she believes that they actually slept together.

"I'll tell him you stopped by," Lexi says.

"That's okay," my sister says, right before she leaves. Lexi and I both watch her go.

"She's not normally like that. She just happens to think that you slept with Stefan. She's a little jealous, maybe a bit betrayed because she still really likes him, even though they are broken up." I look back at Lexi. " I don't think Stefan is the type that randomly sleeps with woman. That is much more of a Damon approach to a break up. How long have you known Stefan for?"

"Oh, I really long time."

"Do you mean 8 years or more like 80?"

"100 years is more like it. Stefan told me you were smart."

"I guessed that is why you are comfortable enough to walk around his house in just a towel. Elena is the pretty one that gets all the boys. I'm the one that shows them that I am better and smarter than they are."

"I like you."

"I like you too. I'll see you around Lexi. My sister is probably waiting for me in the car."

"Bye." I then walk out to the car. Elena drives off as soon as I close the car door.

* * *

><p>Later, Elena answers the door to find Stefan there. I was about to leave for Caroline's party at the Grille. I just happen to hear their conversation. I know it is bad to eavesdrop, but I want my sister to be happy. It hurt that my sister didn't believe she couldn't talk to me. She was saying about how she couldn't tell something to Bonnie and the only person she could talk to was Stefan. That hurt. I hear Stefan ask if Elena needed a ride to the Grille. I thought that was a perfect time to make my entrance.<p>

"I could use a ride," I say. I don't really want to ride in a car with my sister at the moment.

"Are you going to Caroline's party?" Elena asks.

"Lexi's dragging me," Stefan replies.

"I like her more and more," I say.

"And…it's my birthday," Stefan says.

"Really?" Elena asks. Stefan nods.

"Wow. Happy 162nd birthday, Stefan," I say. He gives me a funny look for a second, like 'how did you know how old I am?' "You said that you have been 17 since 1864. 1864 to now is 145 years. 17+145=162."

"Yeah. Happy birthday," my sister says.

"Thank you. Both of you," Stefan says.

"Actually, I, um, I think I'm gonna stay in tonight," my sister says.

"Okay. Well, have a good night," Stefan says to Elena. He looks at me. "Let's go."

"Okay. Bye Lena!" I say.

* * *

><p>The party is in full swing by the time we get there. Stefan and I find Lexi almost immediately. We start hanging out and we were having a lot of fun. Soon, we were dancing out on the dance floor. Or should I say Lexi and I were dancing while Stefan was awkwardly swaying side to side.<p>

"Okay, We're gonna need a little more foot movement," Lexi says. We are both literally dancing circles around him.

"Yeah, I'm not really- not really interested in making a fool out of myself," Stefan says.

"Come on. You're not that bad," Lexi says. I could tell she was getting through to him, so I pull out my phone.

"Do me a favor. Tell me if you see Damon with his camera phone," Stefan replies.

"Oh, Damon is not your problem," I say. Stefan turns to me and sees me holding my camera phone. He laughs and playfully knocks it away. We keep dancing for a little while longer. After, we start playing pool. Stefan breaks and he does it well. I notice my twin arrives at the party soon after we start playing pool. I follow Lexi to the bar. She orders 3 shots of tequila, and then changes it to 4 shots. I'm guessing one is for Elena, who I see she notices has arrived. She then compels the bartender to forget needing an ID and to make the shots on the house. She then walks over to Elena.

"Ah, the famous Elena," Lexi says.

"Towel girl," Elena replies. I give her a look like 'really? That's the best you could come up with?'

"I've been called worse. Here," Lexi replies, handing Elena one of the shots.

"I didn't know that you guys could drink," Elena says. We walk from against the bar to a table.

"Oh, yeah. It helps curb the cravings, but makes for a lot of lushy vamps," Lexi replies. "Cheers," she says to me. We clink our glasses together and do our shots at the same time. Lexi then turns back to Elena.

"You know, I've never seen Stefan drunk," Elena says.

"That would be something I want to see," I say.

"He always seems so…" Elena says.

"Uptight?" Lexi finishes for her.

"Yeah," I say.

"But not with you," Elena says.

"That's the benefit of knowing someone for over 100 years. You can just be yourself," Lexi says.

"Yeah, he can't be himself with me," Elena says.

"Well not yet. The first step was him telling you," Lexi says.

"Yeah Lena. Think about it. By lying to you, he was hiding a part of himself from you. Telling you would be the first step," I say.

"The rest comes with time," Lexi says.

"You seem so sure," Elena says to Lexi.

"The love of my life was human. He went through what I imagine you're going through- denial, anger, et cetera. But at the end of the day, love really did conquer all," Lexi says. She then notices Elena hasn't drunken her shot. "Are you going to drink that?"

"Oh no," Elena says and hands Lexi her shot. "Go for it." Lexi then does the shot. "I'm scared."

"But you're here," Lexi says.

"'Cause you're crazy about him," I say.

"I get it, okay?" Lexi says. We all look over at Stefan playing pool. Lexi says still looking at Stefan, "What's not to love?" She looks back at Elena. "Take it from someone who has been around a long time. When it's real, you can't walk away." That was deep, and actually really great advice. Lexi then drinks Stefan's shot. Elena and I both smile and laugh at her. Lexi and I both start to walk back over Stefan.

"Hey Lexi," Elena calls back. "It was really nice meeting you." Lexi just smiles and we walk back over to Stefan, who is still playing pool.

"Yep, I drank yours. Sorry," Lexi says. Stefan just leans against his pool stick which he holds upright.

Stefan smiles at Lexi. "Thank you."

"I don't think you were supposed to be listening," I say.

Stefan just keeps smiling at Lexi. "What? I was feeling epic. Whatever," Lexi says. Stefan then starts making eyes at Elena again, but looks down when she looks back at him.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Elena comes over to talk to Stefan, so I leave. I find Caroline drinking heavily at the bar.<p>

"Caroline, what's wrong?" I ask her.

"Nothing is wrong. I am just a shallow, stupid, waste of space," she says, staring at her drink.

"Who called you that?" I ask, sitting on the barstool next to her.

"Who do you think?" She says, looking at me. Her eyes are really sad, and I can't bear to see one of my best friends like this.

"Damon. You really need to get over him. He is not good for you," I say. I rub her back in comfort.

"It's not like anyone else is going to pay attention to me," Caroline says.

Caroline really needs a nice guy to help her get over Damon. She needs someone like Matt. Oh my god. It's perfect. Caroline needs someone to help her get over Damon. Matt needs someone to help him get over Elena. They would be great together. "Caroline, you will find someone. They will treat you like you are the most important thing to them. Like you are precious and beautiful. They will choose you over anything else. You just have to find them. They might even be closer than you think."

"Really?" Caroline asks.

"really. I have to find Elena. Why don't you go talk to Matt? He is an amazing comfort to people," I say as I help her up off the barstool.

"Yeah, Matt," she says looking for him. I see her sit down next to Matt at a table. I go back to Elena and Stefan. I grab a napkin and a spare pen I find on one of the tables and start doodling.

* * *

><p>The next time I look up, a few minutes later, Sheriff Forbes is injecting Lexi with something at the bar with Damon. I see her being dragged out of the Grille. I follow Elena and Stefan as they try to exit. We can't from the front door, so I suggest the back exit. We rush out the back to see Sheriff Forbes shooting at Lexi. Lexi keeps walking towards the sheriff, when Damon appears in front of her and stabs her with a wooden stake. Elena and I gasp, and Stefan holds Elena against his body to hide her and shushes us. I just stay behind them. We all watch as Damon pushes the stake further into her body. Lexi's body soon drops to the ground. I watch with tears in my eyes as it falls. I didn't know Lexi for a long time, but I really liked her. I am really going to miss her. We see Damon and Sheriff Forbes converse for a few seconds before Damon packs Lexi's body into the trunk of the sheriff's car. After they leave, Stefan starts to walk after Damon. Elena and I have to follow quickly after him. Elena calls for him, but ignores her. He doesn't turn around until I grab his arm.<p>

"He killed her," Stefan says. "He killed Zach. He killed Tanner. He turned Vicki. I have to kill him." He starts to walk away again.

"No. You can't do that," Elena says. He turns back to face her.

"Why are you trying to save him, Elena?" Stefan asks. "He's never going to change. Don't you see that? He's never going to change."

"We are not trying to save him. We are trying to save you. You have no idea what this will do to you," I say.

"Please, Stefan," Elena pleads with him.

"Everywhere that I go, pain and death follow. Damon follows me. No more," he says.

He tries to walk away again, but Elena grabs his arm one last time. "Stefan, please. Please, just- just talk to me. Let me be here for you. Talk to me."

"No," He says. He looks down at the ground before looking back at my sister. "You were right to stay away from me." He finally walks away. Elena and I stay for a minute before going home. I let my hurt feelings from before disappear for now. My sister needs someone to comfort her for the moment. Elena quickly goes to bed after we get home. I go to my room and grab my sketchbook. I start a picture of Lexi. I hope I never forget her or her amazing advice.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A/N: So sorry about the wait. I have been procrastinating on this chapter. I also have been working on the chapter where Elijah and Emilia will meet. I know we won't get there for a while, but I had so many ideas that I had to write it. But because it was my birthday on Saturday, I decide to give you all a little gift. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I am sorry for the mistakes.

_It was a few weeks after Alliana had given Rebekah the bracelet, and she had never taken it off. Rebekah wore it constantly as a sign of their never ending friendship. Rebekah and Alliana had been spending more and more time together as Niklaus and Elijah seemed to always be disappearing. They never spent any time together anymore, but Alliana didn't think too much of it. She only thought about how she wasn't able to see them as much, especially Niklaus. _

_One day, Alliana was walking through the forest. She walked to the field in case Elijah was there, but as she soon found out, he was not. She then wandered over to the spot by the waterfall. Niklaus was there drawing._

"_Niklaus! I found you! I have been wondering where you went. I no longer see you much. You are not spending time with me anymore," Alliana said._

_Niklaus turned when she started talking, but soon turned back to his drawing. "I apologize, Alliana. But I have met the new person in the village and I have been spending much of my time with them. I am sorry that I have not been spending time with you," he replied._

"_That is alright, as long as you try to pay more attention to me. I have missed you," Alliana replies. She then remembers what he said about a new person in the village. "Who is this new person? There hasn't been anyone new in the village, since I arrived all those many years ago. There hasn't been anyone new since we were kids. Who is this person?"_

"_Just someone new," he replied. He didn't even look up from his drawing._

"_What are you drawing?" Alliana asked._

"_Nothing," he replied. _

_Alliana peeked over his shoulder, but he turned before she could see much. From what she did see it was of a woman. "It must be something important if you are not willing to share this with me," she said._

"_I am drawing someone very important to me." Alliana felt her heart race with excitement. _

"_I hope to see it soon then," she said. She then walked away. She then ran to the Mikaelson house to find Rebekah. She called out to her when she spotted her. "Rebekah! You never will believe what just happened."_

"_What?!" Rebekah asked excitedly. _

"_I think Niklaus likes me as I like him!" Alliana replies._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I found Niklaus at the spot near the waterfall. I asked him why he has not been spending time with me. He replied he had been spending time with someone new, but since I know he doesn't like anyone in the village very much and there have been no new person in the village since we were kids, I knew he must be lying. Then I tried to see what he was drawing, but he turned so I could not see it. He told me he was drawing someone important to him. I think that person might be me. That is why he is not showing me the picture."_

_Rebekah's smile dropped slightly. "Alliana there is someone new in the village."_

"_Oh. I had not heard. I believe we should meet this new person. I know what it is like to be new in the village. I could offer them some advice."_

"_Sure. Let us go," Rebekah said._

_Rebekah and Alliana walked to the main part of the village. At first they did not see anyone new at all. They still talked with some of the other young people of the village while they waited for the new person. The day was drawing to a close, when Alliana and Rebekah spotted Niklaus walk through the village and into the woods. Alliana pointed him out and they followed him. They watched as he walked to another person. They walked closer and saw it was a woman. He was kissing her. She was against a tree, so the girls could not see her very well. Alliana felt her heart drop, but she still had hope that Niklaus still felt something for her. Rebekah looked to her and whispered, "I am sorry." Alliana just nodded as a sign of thanks. They turned back to watch as Niklaus and the woman stopped kissing. Niklaus pulled a roll of paper from behind his back and handed it to the woman. The woman hugged Niklaus tight when she saw the drawing, which the girls could also not see very well. _

_They followed the woman and Niklaus back to the village. All they could see of the woman was long, dark waves of hair. Her hair was so wavy it was almost curls. The color of her hair was few shades darker than Alliana's. The woman and Niklaus spilt apart at the village. Niklaus walked back the way of the Mikaelson house, while the woman stood there to watch him go. Alliana gasped when she saw the woman's face when she turned around. _

"_Tatia?" Alliana asked._

_Tatia walked over to Alliana and gave her a big hug. When she let go, she still held on to Alliana's arms and said, "Hello sister."_

* * *

><p>Caroline, Elena, and I were walking into school. Caroline was ranting about how she is mad at Bonnie. She seems okay about what happened at the party, but I can't always tell with Caroline.<p>

"Have you even talked to Bonnie?" I ask Caroline.

"No. I'm mad at her. She needs to make the first move," Caroline replies.

"Be the bigger person," Elena says.

"Impossible in her presence," Caroline replies.

"Why are you so pissed at her, anyway?" Elena asks.

"She's a thief. That's why," Caroline replies. "I gave her my necklace and she refuses to give it back. It's a matter of principle."

"Are you talking about the necklace you gave her for her Halloween costume? Because you told her she could do whatever she wanted with it. You said she could toss it," I said.

"Yeah, but I didn't mean that she actually could. I changed my mind and now she won't give it back," Caroline says.

"All right. Well, we tried. We are officially out of it," Elena says.

"Good. Your turn." Caroline says. "Where's Stefan? Have you talked to him?"

"He's avoiding me," Elena says, looking away.

"Why?" Caroline asks.

"It's complicated," Elena says. The bell rings and Elena and I walk away from Caroline, waving as we leave.

We walk into History class. I see Elena looking over at Stefan's empty seat. I sit behind her. I feel bad for her; Stefan has got a little AWOL. Bonnie rushes in, a little frantically, a second before she would've been late. A new teacher walks in right behind her.

"Good morning, everyone," He says as he sets his briefcase on the desk. Bonnie sits next to me. I mouth to her to ask if she is okay. She shrugs in response. I hear the teacher mumbling under his breath letters, while he writes them on the board. He turns back to face us when he is done. "Alaric Saltzman" is what he says, and that is what is written on the board.

"It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston," the teacher says. He crosses to the other side of the desk. "Now, the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough," he says slightly sarcastically. "You'll probably want to pronounce it 'Ala-ric,' but it's 'A-lar-ic,' okay? So you can call me Rick." He takes a breath before saying, "I'm your new history teacher." I like him already. He seems cool.

* * *

><p>At lunch, Bonnie was telling Elena and I about these dreams that she keeps having and how she wakes up in the remains of old Fell's Church before waking up.<p>

"And you always see your ancestor Emily?" I ask her. She nods as an answer. "Huh." I say.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Bonnie asks.

"Two weeks ago, I'd say no, but now…" Elena says.

"I think I am being haunted," Bonnie says.

"I don't get it. Why Emily?" I ask.

"Grams said she was a powerful witch back in the Civil war days and that this medallion was hers," Bonnie says, holding on to the medallion around her neck, the same one that I found lying next to Caroline at the Founders' Day party. "A witch's talisman."

"And it all started when you got the necklace?" I ask, thoughts running through my head.

"I think she's using it to communicate with me," Bonnie replies.

"What does Grams say about it?" Elena asks.

"I can't call her. She'll going to tell me to embrace it. I don't want to embrace it. I want it to stop," Bonnie says.

* * *

><p>Bonnie was driving Elena and I home, while ranting about how awful Damon was. He apparently tried to threaten her. That is such a big shock to see Damon who is so sweet and gentle threatening someone. I am super sarcastic when it comes to Damon. I am only half-listening to Bonnie and Elena. I am listening to music and I don't want to deal with Damon. He killed Lexi and I might kill him the next time I saw him. Or I just might seriously inflict a lot of pain onto him.<p>

"You need to stay as far away from Damon as possible," Elena says. Yeah, like that would work. He is a psychotic vampire. He would just find Bonnie if he needed to.

"I'm trying. He just keeps showing up," Bonnie says.

"I don't want you to be alone. You're sleeping at our place tonight. We can make a whole night out of it," Elena said.

Bonnie doesn't respond. What she does is pull over and throw the necklace into a field. Elena and I just stare at her as she gets back in the car. That was actually kind of a good idea.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Now I am," Bonnie replies. "All my problems were because of that thing. Can't believe I didn't do that sooner."

"What your Grams going to say?" Elena asks.

"Grams isn't the one that is being haunted by a 150-year-old ghost, is she?" Bonnie says.

"Ok then," Elena says. Bonnie buckles herself in and we drive off.

* * *

><p>Caroline and Elena were unpacking dinner when Bonnie walked over. I was standing next to Elena, on the opposite side of Caroline. There was an awkward pause when Caroline finally breaks the silence.<p>

"I'm sorry," Caroline says. "There. I said it. If you want the ugly-ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."

"Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?" Bonnie asks.

"You threw it away?" Caroline asks, slightly aggravated.

"I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares. I had to get rid of it," Bonnie replies.

"You could have just given it back to me," Caroline says, still slightly aggravated.

"Why? So you could give it back to Damon?" I ask.

"Screw Damon. Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?" Caroline says.

"Mine's in my bag," Bonnie says.

"So Elena…" Caroline starts as she looks through Bonnie's bag. "How long do you think this fight with Stefan's going to last? Is it like a permanent thing?" Way to be obvious Caroline. I may be the only one who sees it, but Caroline still has a thing for Stefan. She just needs to be with someone else, someone like Matt.

"I don't know, Caroline," Elena says.

"Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?" Caroline says.

"What?" Bonnie and I ask.

"Caroline!" Elena exclaims. Caroline turns around and holds up the necklace. What the hell?

"I'm not lying to you, Caroline. I swear," Bonnie says.

"It's true. I watched her throw it into a field," I say.

"Well, then explain it," Caroline says.

"Emily," Bonnie says to me and Elena.

"Who's Emily?" Caroline asks. I feel bad that she is being left out at the moment, but we don't really have time to focus on that at the moment.

"The ghost," Bonnie says, looking at me and Elena.

"Oh, the ghost has a name now?" Caroline asks sarcastically.

"Caroline, please," Elena says. She holds up her hand to Caroline and focuses on Bonnie. That's a little harsh.

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone," Bonnie says.

"Ok, what is going on?" Caroline asks, aggravated. "Why am I not part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time." I see Elena roll her eyes at Caroline. Rude, sister. I feel really bad, because it is kind of true. But Caroline has a tendency to be a huge blabbermouth.

"That's not true," Elena says.

"Yeah, it kind of is," I say. I make an apologetic face at Caroline. "I'm sorry."

"I can't talk to you. You don't listen," Bonnie says.

"That's not true," Caroline says.

Bonnie takes a breath before saying, "I'm a witch."

"And don't we all know it?" Caroline says a little snarky.

"See! That's what I am talking about! I'm trying to tell you something! You don't even hear it." Bonnie says, almost yelling. Bonnie walks away from the kitchen.

Caroline turns back to us. "I listen. When do I not listen?"

After a few minutes, when Caroline and Bonnie calm down a bit, Caroline goes to make up. Elena and I hear their conversation, but decided to remain outside. That was before we heard Caroline say, "It's okay Elena and Emmy. You can come in now. We're done." We walked in and sat down on the couch.

"Well, there is just way too much drama in this room. What do you guys want to do?" Caroline says.

I just shrug in response. A movie might be good. Caroline then gasps and sits up very straight. "I have an idea," she says. She looks at all of us before saying, "Why don't we have a séance?" A movie is a much better idea.

"I don't think that is a good idea," Elena says. Caroline gets up and walks around to the back of the couch.

"Come on. Let's summon some spirits. This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do," Caroline says. Bonnie, Elena and I just look at each other. This is a really bad idea.

* * *

><p>We were sitting in Elena's room in a circle around a few candles I found. The lights were off, but the candles were lit. We were holding hands. I was in between Elena and Caroline, and Bonnie was across from me.<p>

"What are we doing?" Bonnie asks.

"I have no idea," I say. Caroline shushes us.

"Be quiet and concentrate. Okay, close your eyes," Caroline says. We all begrudgingly follow her orders. "Now, take a deep breath." We all do it. "Bonnie, call to her."

"Emily…you there?" Bonnie asks. I almost start laughing at that. Elena and Caroline give her a look.

"Really? 'Emily, you there?' That's all you got?" Caroline says. "Come on."

"Fine. Jeez," Bonnie says. We all settle down before Bonnie says, "Emily… I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen."

At first nothing happens. Then, the flames on the candle increase drastically. We all drop our hands and move slightly back, but the flames decrease to a regular size.

"Did that just-" Elena starts.

"Yeah. That just happened," I say. This is weird. A breeze blows through the room and we all gasp.

"It's just the air conditioning," Bonnie tries to reason. Then the flames on the candles rise again. We all stare at it. This is really creepy.

"Ask her to show you a sign. Ask her," Caroline says to Bonnie.

Bonnie and Elena both shake their heads. I step up. "Emily if you're among us, send us another sign."

Nothing happens. "See? It's not working," Bonnie says, a little desperately. She sounds really scared and I don't blame her. I am kind of freaked out at the moment. We all relax for a moment before the window behind Bonnie blows open. We all scramble backwards in fear. Elena and Caroline go to the sides of the room, while I only scramble back a few feet. Bonnie stands up.

"No. I can't. I'm done," she says. She rips off the necklace and throws it to the ground in front of the candles. The candles extinguish. "Get the light. Please get the light," Bonnie says frantically. She is really scared.

"Hold on. Hold on. I got it," my twin says. She gets up and turns on the light. I rush over to Bonnie to comfort her and to calm her down after what just happened. I look down and see that the necklace has disappeared.

"You guys, the necklace, it's gone," I say. We all look down.

"Okay, fun's over, Caroline. You made a point and I get it. Now give it back," Elena says.

"What? Well, I didn't take it," Caroline says. I see a shadow pass past the door. Caroline's back was to the door, so she didn't see it. I just stare at it. Caroline turns around to face the door. "What? What happened?"

"I don't know. Nothing," Elena says. She walks to the doorway. "Jeremy? Are you home?"

I see Bonnie look around the room, before walking to the bathroom slowly. "Um…guys," she says. She walks cautiously into the bathroom. She picks up the necklace, which was on the ground in the bathroom. She turns back to us to leave, when the door flies shut.

Bonnie screams. "Oh my God!" I hear the echo of the other bathroom door close as well. Caroline and Elena rush to the door. We are all calling for Bonnie. The door wouldn't open, so Elena and Caroline pound on the door for Bonnie to open it, but she doesn't respond. We can hear Bonnie screaming from inside.

"I'm going to check the other door. Elena, you check the hallway," I yell over Bonnie screaming inside. I rush to the other door, which is in Jeremy's room, but that one also will not open. Elena follows me, but we can't do anything. We keep calling for Bonnie, for her to unlock and open the door. The lights start flickering and Bonnie's screams increase in volume. We keep screaming for her. Elena and I both rush over to the other side again. Suddenly everything stops. Bonnie stops screaming and the lights stop flickering. Something is wrong. The lock on the bathroom door suddenly unlocks. We open the door to find Bonnie standing in the middle of the room with her head in her hands, panting.

"What happened?" Elena asks.

"Are you okay?" I ask. The panting stops and Bonnie raises her head from it being in her hands. Her hands drop. The necklace is around her neck.

She stands a little straighter and says, "I'm fine." Her voice is deep and monotone.

"Unbelievable," Caroline says, a little breathlessly. "You were totally faking it." Bonnie just stands there.

"Caroline, come on," Elena says.

"No, you scared the hell out of me," Caroline almost shouts angrily. She turns and walks away. Bonnie stands there with a strange look on her face and her hands clasped in front of her. Something is very wrong with her.

"Bonnie?" I call gently.

"I'm fine," she replies. "Everything's fine." Bonnie leaves the bathroom.

"I can't believe I fell for it," Caroline says as Bonnie walks away. She leaves the room.

"Are you okay?" I ask Bonnie.

"I must go," she replies. She is still walking away, trying to leave.

"If she's leaving, I'm leaving," Caroline says.

"You guys can't leave," Elena says.

"Oh I can," Caroline argues. "I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night." I watch Bonnie. She is not acting like herself at all. She never leaves a sleepover.

"Thank you for having me. I'll take it from here," Bonnie says. She turns around and walks down the stairs to leave.

"Where are you going?" Elena asks.

"Back to where it all began," she replies. What does that mean?

Elena calls for Bonnie, but she doesn't reply. I run down the stairs after her. Suddenly, it all makes sense. It's not Bonnie.

"Emily!" I call.

She turns around at the bottom of the stairs. "I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed." She leaves and shuts the door behind her. Elena and I rush to the door, but it won't open.

"What's happening?" Caroline asks as she runs down the stairs.

"I don't know. The door, it's not-" Elena says as we try to open the door. Suddenly the door opens. We scream.

Jeremy yells, "What the hell?" He walks through the door and into the kitchen.

Caroline says, "I'm outta here." She then leaves. Elena then grabs her phone and calls Stefan. They talk about what just happened. That Emily is possessing Bonnie, she said something, and then left. They think about where she would have gone. I then remember something.

"Fell's Church. It's where she always woke up in her dreams," I say. Elena relays the information to Stefan. We go to find her.

* * *

><p>By the time we do find Bonnie or Emily, she is in a circle of fire. She is doing something magical. I can again almost feel it. She throws something in the air which explodes. I am guessing it was the necklace, which is why Damon is so upset. He must have needed it for something. Bonnie lets her head drop. The flames extinguish and when Bonnie looks up, she looks very confused. Emily must have left her.<p>

Damon snarls and attacks Bonnie. She starts to scream, so he must be feeding on her. I start to look for a piece of wood I can use as a stake. I want to kill him so badly. He is hurting my friend. Stefan rips Damon off of Bonnie, who falls to the ground when released. I rush to her to help her. She is bleeding heavily from her neck, but still her heart is still beating. Stefan rushes over and checks as well.

"She's alive, but barely. I can save her," he says. He bites his wrist and feeds her his blood.

"Her neck. It's healing," Elena says. I turn to Damon, now that Bonnie is okay. He looks a little wrecked, but I was too mad at him to care at the moment.

"You are lucky she is alive. If she had died, you would have suffered at least ten times worse of a death. Remember that next time you try to kill one of my friends," I say. He then walks away, looking slightly worse. I felt a pang of guilt, but I was too mad about Bonnie to do anything.

Elena and I help Bonnie to Elena's car. She was so confused and had no idea what was going on.

"I don't understand, guys, what happened to me," Bonnie says. Tears rush down her face as she says, "He attacked me…his face was like…."

"How do you feel? Are you okay?" Elena asks her. I look at the side of her neck. It is bloody, but there is no sign of where Damon bit her.

"I'm fine. It's- It's just this blood…I don't know," Bonnie stammers. She stops and we turn around to see Stefan standing there.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he says.

"What's going on, guys?" Bonnie asks.

"We'll explain everything Bonnie. Let's just get out of here," Elena says. Bonnie looks back at Stefan. Her face shows that she is scared and confused.

"Bonnie. Bonnie, look at me. Trust me," I say. She looks to me. "He's not going to hurt you. Come one." I grab her shoulders and take her into the car. I look at Elena and gesture to go talk to Stefan. I sit with Bonnie in the back seat and comfort her. She eventually calms down a bit by the time Elena gets back into the car. She is very quiet, so I know something is going on.

We go into Elena's room and wrap ourselves in blankets as we explain what just happened. We explain that Stefan and Damon are vampires. They were turned by this woman, Katherine, in 1864. Elena goes on to explain about her relationship with Stefan, when she breaks down crying. I am proud of her for making up to that point before crying about Stefan's and her break up. We comfort her until we fall asleep.

A/N: Okay. I am so grateful for all the followers, favorites, and even views that this story gets. But this story is really lacking on reviews. This story has almost 100 followers, 61 favorites, over 8,700 views but only 33 reviews. That seriously needs to change. I am amazed that so many people have seen this story, but I am not sure that people read it because they like it or they read it because it sucks. So, please leave a review and tell me what you think. It takes 20 seconds and it really means a lot.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch. 10

A/N: I am so so so so so sorry. Words cannot even describe how sorry I am. I was really busy and then my computer broke. Something issue with the cooling fan that made it overheat. So I have not been able to update. Luckily, school is ending very soon, so updates will hopefully be quicker. Finals are next week. Unfortunately after finals end, I will be going to Barcelona and France for a little while, but I will try to update again by then. As always thank you to everyone who reads this story. I love all the messages I still receive about new followers and favorites. You guys made my day. Again sorry about the late update and the mistakes, so if anyone is still reading this story, enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters. Anything you recognize is not mine. I only own my OC's, Emilia and Alliana.

* * *

><p><em>Alliana was spending time with Rebekah, but her mind was focused elsewhere. Alliana was not happy. Everywhere she turned, Tatia seemed to be there. Every time that she wanted to spend time with Elijah or Niklaus, Tatia would be with them. It was infuriating. They should be spending time with her, not her older twin sister. What made Tatia better than her? She was just as pretty as Tatia, but Elijah and Niklaus both would rather spend time with Tatia. They both do not also see that Tatia is playing both of them.<em>

_As Alliana did her chores with Rebekah, she wondered about how to get the brothers to spend more time with her. She could not think of any ideas._

"_Rebekah, what do you think of my sister?" Alliana asked._

_Rebekah turned to her. "Why would you ask?"_

"_I am wondering why your brothers, Niklaus and Elijah are no longer spending time with me."_

"_I think she is awful. She is playing with both of my brothers and they do not even know."_

"_How about we show them?"_

"_What do you mean?" Rebekah asked. _

_Alliana just smiled. "We show them," she said._

_Alliana and Rebekah created a plan with a little help from Kol. They were going to make Tatia reveal that she is playing with both of the brothers by having Alliana talk to Tatia about them. _

_Alliana walked into the marketplace and saw Tatia. She looked away and waited for her twin to see her. It did not take long. Tatia called over for her._

"_Alliana!" Alliana looked over to see Tatia. She walked over slowly._

"_Hello, sister," she said politely._

"_It is very nice to see you," Tatia said. Alliana noticed Elijah behind Tatia and Niklaus not too far behind either._

"_Yes, it is. I have not been able to speak with you as someone always seems to be with you."_

"_I don't know why that would be," Tatia said. Alliana noticed Elijah move slightly closer, listening to their conversation. Niklaus also moved closer, but into a place where Elijah could not see him. Alliana smirked. Her plan was working perfectly._

"_Yes. You seem to be spending a lot of time with Elijah. He is a dear friend of mine." Niklaus' face took on a confused expression._

"_Yes. He has been very kind to me."_

"_I have also noticed you spending just as much time with his brother, Niklaus. He is also a dear friend of mine." Elijah's face had also then taken a confused expression._

"_Yes. He is very sweet to me."_

"_I have heard talk about them thinking of courting you for marriage. You do know that you cannot have them both."_

_Tatia smiled. "But why would I only have one, when I can have both." Niklaus and Elijah's faces both became serious, then furious._

"_Dear sister, you know if you continue down this path again something unfortunate would happen. You have already had one child and had been disgraced," Alliana said. Her voice takes on a sickly sweet tone. "We would not want that to happen again, now would we?" She smiled. Tatia's face fell. Alliana giggled. Elijah and Niklaus both stormed away. Tatia turned just in time to see them storm away furiously. She tried to run after them, but they went in opposite directions, so she could not._

_Alliana smiled. Now Niklaus and Elijah would have to be with her. Everything went perfectly._

* * *

><p>I walked by my brother's room. I could see him drawing in his sketchbook. My heart filled with warmth. In the wake of our parents' deaths, I had looked for solace in my drawing as a way of grieving and comfort, while Jeremy took a different route. He had pushed away his sketching, seeking solace in drugs and Vicki. I was so glad to see him with it again. I stood there silently, watching him sketch for a few minutes when Elena walks up behind me. She sees what I see and we share a smile. Elena motions for us to leave and I nod. I close Jeremy's door as we walk away. Jenna is downstairs getting her stuff to leave.<p>

"Jeremy's got his sketchpad out," I tell Jenna.

Jenna turns around and looks at us. "You're kidding."

"Nope. But the minute we encourage him, he will put it away," I say.

"Psychology major," Jenna says. "Check that."

Jenna and I both turn to see Elena checking her phone. "Stefan?" I ask.

Elena sighs before she says, "He knows how I feel and where I stand, and I know where he stands. But it doesn't matter. He's leaving, moving away." Elena finishes buttoning up her jacket.

"Where's he going?" Jenna asks. Elena opens the door.

"We've stopped asking questions. The answers get scary," I say. We all walk outside, and Elena closes the door behind us.

"Yours leaves, mine returns," Jenna says.

"Logan?" Elena asks.

"He's back," Jenna says. Elena and I both groan. "I didn't let him past the front door."

"I hope you slammed it in his face," Elena says.

"Ah, medium slam," Jenna replies.

"You want me to kick his ass?" I ask.

"Nah. That would just be too cruel," Jenna replies.

"Well, next time he comes here, I will punch him in the face," I say. Jenna and Elena laugh. "No joke. Three strike rule, Jenna."

"Yeah. You're not even allowed to watch the news," my twin agrees.

"Exactly. No more Logan 'Scum' Fell," Jenna says.

* * *

><p>Bonnie joined Elena and me in school. We were walking in the hallways and saw Matt and Caroline talking. I am really happy for Caroline. She followed my advice, even though she was super drunk and probably doesn't even remember it.<p>

"Did I miss something?" Elena asks.

"They've been hanging out," I say.

"Kind of weird, don't you think?" Elena says. We watch them walk into their next class together.

"I think it's sweet," Bonnie says.

"Me too. Caroline needs someone nice like Matt," I say.

"As opposed to a homicidal vampire like Damon," Bonnie says. I start giggling.

"Yeah. How are you doing with all that?" I ask.

"I'm freaked out," Bonnie admits. "Damon attacked me. I could be dead right now."

"That's a morbid thought," I interrupt her.

"What? It's true," she replies. "But I'm also grateful." We look at her questioningly. "To Stefan. He saved my life, and…" Elena looks away, trying not to look hurt. "Have you seen him?"

"Not since he told me he was leaving," Elena replies. She opens her locker and places her scarf and bag in it.

"He wouldn't leave without saying good-bye," I say.

"Yes, he would. He thinks he's protecting me. Clean break and all that," Elena says. She switches her stuff for the books she needs.

"So what are you going to do?" Bonnie asks.

"What am I supposed to do? I already begged for him not to go," Elena says. "If I ask again, then I'm being selfish." That is stupid. You fight for the people you care about. And I know Stefan and Elena care for each other at the very least, if not love each other. I would do anything for the people I love, but I am not in this situation.

"It is what it is," Bonnie says as we walk away from Elena's locker. I quickly change my books in my locker, which is near Elena's and walk back to Bonnie and Elena. "Maybe it's for the best. I mean, what kind of future could you have had with him, even if he stayed?" Again, stupid. You make your own future. They can be happy and together for as long as they want. It's their choice. I can feel my blood start to boil. I'm getting worked up about something that isn't my business. Right after Bonnie says that and I start to get mad, the banner that people were hanging up above us falls. I instantly calm down. We all stare at the banner, which says 'The Promise of YOUR Future.' That's ironic. Elena and I look to Bonnie.

"Did you…?" Elena starts to ask.

"No, I swear," Bonnie quickly replies. Elena quickly walks away, pushing the banner away. Bonnie watches her leave, and then follows after a few seconds. I help the kids lift the banner back up before I follow.

* * *

><p>After school, Elena and I see Stefan sitting on one of the picnic tables outside. I tell her that I would see her later and went home. I find Jeremy and Jenna talking about Jonathan Gilbert's journal.<p>

"I thought he was just crazy or a drunk," Jeremy says, probably referring to the fact that Jonathan wrote a lot about vampires.

"He was a Gilbert. Probably a bit of both," Jenna says, handing Jeremy the journal. He goes to look through it again.

"Hey, don't knock the family name," I tell her teasingly.

"I'm not wrong," she says.

"Sadly, no. You are not wrong."

"Want to help me make some food for before we leave?" Jenna asks.

"You mean 'do I want to make food, while you watch'?"

"Yeah. I probably shouldn't cook."

"No!" Jeremy yells from the couch. Jenna and I laugh.

"Don't worry. I will make some food that is actually edible," I say.

"Hey! My food is edible," Jenna says. I laugh.

"Just keep telling yourself that." I turn away to start making dinner.

* * *

><p>After a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce, courtesy of me, Jenna, Jeremy and I head to Career Night. Jeremy heads off to who knows where. Jenna starts to talk with a few of her friends who were here to help showcase their careers. I started to wander around. I look at some of the career options, but none really interest me. For the longest time, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps, but now I am not so sure. Elena has always wanted to be a writer, but I know she is no longer sure either. After our parents died, it just kind of seems hard to be these things when all our parents did was push and support us doing these things. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad teaching me about medicine and following him around his practice. He always told me that I had to be really smart and really determined if I wanted to be a doctor. He fostered my great love of learning, along with my mom giving me all these great books to read. Being here reminds me that they are not here themselves. Their death has changed me and I am lost as to who I am now.<p>

After a little while I find Jenna again and stick with her. I don't feel like being lost in my own thoughts. I spot Logan here and point him out to Jenna, who immediately walks the other way. I follow her to find her talking with Elena, who is standing next to Stefan.

"Hide me," Jenna says.

"What's going on?" Elena asks.

I walk over. "The Scum Fell has landed," I say.

Elena groans. "Logan's here?"

"Yeah. And we are so happy to see his ugly face," I say sarcastically.

"Wait," Stefan says. "Logan Fell?"

"The one and only," I say annoyed. Stefan walks away. Okay? We watch him walk out into the hallway and stop there. We follow him.

"Stefan, what is going on?" Elena asks.

"Jenna," Logan says as he walks over. "Are you dodging me?"

"No, she just walks the opposite direction every time she sees you for no apparent reason," I say sarcastically. I am very sarcastic to people I don't like and people who annoy me.

"Um, Elena, why don't you, Jenna, and Emilia go somewhere else?" Stefan asks.

Elena nods and grabs Jenna's arm. "Let's go." She drags Jenna away quickly. I follow, but stay just long enough to give Logan a 'Fuck off' glare. When we get away, Elena turns to Jenna.

"When Logan came to the house, what did he say?" Elena asks. I think I know where she is going with this.

Jenna groans and fixes her bag on her shoulder. "Fake flattery. Stupid, dimpled grin. Puppy dog eyes."

"Jenna, focus," I say. "How did he act? What did he say?"

"He was the usual Logan. He was charming, a little more manic than usual," she replies. It hit me. He's a vampire. "He kept trying to convince me to let him in." Yup, he is definitely a vampire. Great…

I turn to Elena. She looks me in the eyes. We do our special twin telepathy thing. I tell her he is a vampire by looking in her eyes. She looks alarmed when she gets it. I quickly turn to Jenna. "Okay, listen to me very carefully," I say seriously. "Do not, under any circumstances, talk to him again. And whatever you do, do not let him in the house."

"We're serious, Jenna. Never talk to him again. Like, ever," Elena says. Jenna looks at us confused, but she nods her understanding.

"Hey, Emilia. Hello, Elena," Mr. Saltzman says as he walks up to us behind Jenna. "Jenna." She turns around to talk to him. "Yeah, I was hoping to, uh, see you tonight."

"Career Night is the new bowling," Jenna replies, flirting. He laughs. Ooh. This is interesting. Strange for my aunt and my teacher to be flirting, but interesting. Elena and I excuse ourselves and quickly walk away.

We find Stefan and we all start looking for Logan. I see Jeremy and Tyler talking. Uh-oh. This won't be good. Soon enough, they are fighting in the hallway. Mr. Saltzman and Mayor Lockwood break them up and the Mayor takes them outside. I turn to Elena.

"Go. Go with Stefan and find Logan. I'll stay and deal with Jeremy," I say. She nods and they walk away. I walk over quickly to Mr. Saltzman. I'm going to need backup.

"Hey, Mr. Saltzman. I need your help," I say to him. He nods and we walk outside. We find them right as Mayor Lockwood tells them to fight. Both Jeremy and Tyler say no. As Tyler starts to walk away, his father pushes him back and yells at him to fight. Mr. Saltzman intervenes at that moment.

"Whoa. What's going on out here?" he asks as he walks up. I stay back by the door. My presence would not help the situation much. Mayor Lockwood stiffens and straightens up before turning around.

"Just lettin' these 2 kids work it out," the mayor says. "We're good here. Go back inside."

"I don't want to go back inside," Mr. Saltzman replies, calmy. "What I want is an answer to my question. What's going on out here?"

"Who do you think you are talking to?" Mayor Lockwood asks. He sounds pissed off. Good, he's a dick. "Do I look like a student?"

"No. You look like a full grown alpha-male douche bag," Mr. Saltzman says calmly. Ooh, burn! Jeremy tries to hide a smile and Tyler just looks surprised.

"You don't talk to me like that," Mayor Lockwood says sounding even more pissed off. "I can have your job like this." He snaps. Mr. Saltzman just looks down and smiles back at the mayor.

"Ah, you do that. Then, it'll be you and me in this parking lot, working things out." Mr. Saltzman takes a step closer to the mayor and crosses his arms. "You cool with that?"

"You just marked yourself," Mayor Lockwood says, trying to sound intimidating and failing. He looks at Tyler who starts to walk away and the mayor follows. Mr. Saltzman turns to Jeremy.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy nods in reply. "Come on." They walk back over to me and the door. Jeremy has a guilty look on his face.

"Thanks, Mr. Saltzman," I say. I look at Jeremy. "You, let's go." I gesture with my head to the door. Jeremy opens the door and we all head in. I go and find some of my classmates and talk to them. A little while later, Jeremy comes back inside again, holding his nose which is bleeding. I say goodbye to Mia, my classmate and walk over to Jeremy.

"What did you do?" I ask him.

"Nothing. I was just trying to talk to Tyler about his dad, when he punched me out of nowhere," he tells me.

"Then don't talk to Tyler. He's an ass. Come on. I'll clean you up at home." We grab Jenna and head home.

I clean Jeremy up and head to my room. I check my phone to find that Elena had called me. She left a voicemail saying she had taken Stefan home. She wasn't back yet, so she must be staying there. I'm glad they are most likely back together. I start reading a book that my mom gave me before she died. I let myself get lost in the story instead of thinking about my parents. I quietly listen to music. It is loud enough that I can hear it, but quiet enough it does not distract me from getting lost in my story. I get so lost in the story that I do not see my phone flashing, telling me that Elena is calling.

* * *

><p>I wake up the next day and I see that Elena is not in her room. She must still be at the Salvatore's. I finish getting ready and check my phone. I find a missed call and a voicemail from Elena from last night. It must be her telling me she will see me at school or something. I'll listen to it at school. I drive Jeremy to school and drop him off. I park the car and pull out my phone. I listen to the voicemail and a feeling a dread and worry comes over me as soon as I start to listen to it.<p>

Elena's voice is choked. She must be crying. "Emmy. It's me. I found something in Stefan's room…a picture….from 1864….it's of Katherine… Emmy, she looks exactly like me." Her voice cracks as she says the last sentence. "I don't know what to do. I'm on my way home now. Emmy. What do I do? I'll see you soon." Right before she hangs up I hear her shriek and the sound of squealing tires and a crash before it ends.

I have to find her.

I quickly start my car and head towards the Salvatore Boarding house. On my way, on a quiet road I find something that stops my heart. Elena's car flipped over and completely totaled on the side of the road. I quickly get out of my car and rush over. I don't see my sister in the car or anywhere else around here. I see what's left of the windshield on the road, but I can't find my sister. I get back in my car and rush over to the Salvatore boarding house. I need to get some answers and find my twin.

When I reach the house, I rush inside, but not before I pull something out of my glove compartment. I find Stefan in his room facing the window and facing away from the window. He is holding something in his hand. I can see it's my sister's necklace. She never takes it off. Something is definitely wrong. I feel my blood boil. Stefan seems distracted. I get behind him and pull him around me and to the ground. By the time he realizes what is going on, I am have one knee pressed against his torso, pinning him, and one arm pressed against his neck while the other holds a stake against his chest.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't push this stake directly into your heart," I say threateningly. Stefan stares at me in shock. "Where is my sister?"

"I don't know. She left the house when I went to get her a drink. I found her necklace. I have tried calling her, but she won't talk to me. She is with Damon. That's all I know. I never meant to hurt her."

"You have 1 minute to explain why she would run out of this house and call me crying about a picture of Katherine before I shove this wooden stake deep into your heart, so you will not survive."

"Elena found a picture from 1864 of Katherine. She realized that she looks exactly like Katherine and she left. I never got the chance to explain. I don't love her because she looks like Katherine. That has nothing to do with my feelings for her. Her looks drew me in, but I fell in love with her because of her personality, not her looks," Stefan says in a rush. I back off of him.

"Fine. I don't forgive you yet, but I am not going to kill you at this moment." We both get up. "This is some seriously crazy shit. The vampire who turned you almost 150 years ago, that both you and your brother fell in love with looks exactly like my twin sister."

"Yeah. It is a little crazy."

"But, I swear if you hurt my sister again, I will not hesitate to kill you."

"I would never hurt her."

"Little late for that, buddy," I say. "Do you have a plan to find my sister?"

"Yeah, but we need Bonnie's help."

* * *

><p>We find Bonnie at school. She is outside. I walk up to her first. We start walking to a picnic table.<p>

"Hey, Ems. Where have you been?"

"Bonnie, we need your help," I reply. Stefan walks over.

When Bonnie sees Stefan, she immediately stiffens. "Hi, Stefan," she says.

"I haven't seen you lately. How are you doing with everything?" Stefan asks.

"I'm fine. It's all been fine," she replies. Polite conversation is normally good, but right now I really want to get to the point.

"Good."

"Yeah," she says. "Are you back in school?"

"No. Actually I came here to find you," Stefan says.

"Like I said, we need your help," I say. "We were hoping you can help us with something with a spell."

"Stefan, I know Emmy and Elena are okay with all this, and I appreciate what you did to help me, but I'm not ready to dive into all of this with you just yet."

"Bonnie, I get it. And I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't necessary. Please. I need help," I say. "It's Elena." Her eyes widen in surprise and worry. "She's with Damon." We sit at a picnic table.

"I have Elena's necklace. I was just hoping that you could use this to make some sort of connection," Stefan says. "I just need to know that she's okay."

"How do you know I can do this?" Bonnie asks.

"Because I've known a few witches over the years. I've seen what they can do."

"I'm still new at it."

"It's okay. Give it a shot," Stefan says. He hands her the necklace.

"It's okay, Bonnie. I know you can do it," I say. She gives me a small smile, before she closes her eyes in concentration. After a few seconds, her eyebrows furrow and her grip tightens on the necklace in her clasped hands.

"There's nothing," Bonnie says when she opens her eyes. "Nothing's happening. Usually there's an image or…" She looks at us worried. "Tell me if anyone is looking."

"Okay," Stefan and I both say. Bonnie grabs a leaf off the ground. She places it on the table and holds her hand over it like she did with the feathers in Elena's room. She moves her hand, but nothing happens. Something's wrong. She tries again, but still nothing happens. Her hands drop in disappointment and worry.

"Something's wrong," Bonnie says.

"With Elena?" Stefan asks quickly. No dude.

"No. With me. There's something wrong with me," Bonnie replies.

"There's something wrong with your magic?" I ask. She nods.

"I have to go. I'm sorry, Ems. Sorry, Stefan." She gets up and grabs her stuff. "I can't help you." Bonnie quickly runs away. Stefan and I turn to each other.

"I am going to find Bonnie. You keep searching for Elena," I say before I run after Bonnie.

* * *

><p>I first search for Bonnie at her house, but she isn't there. I next go to her Grams' house. I knock on the door. Sheila Bennett, Bonnie's Grams opens the door.<p>

"Hey Grams," I say. "Have you seen Bonnie? She ran from school a little while ago."

"She was just here a few minutes ago. You just missed her," she replies.

I sigh in frustration. "Do you know where she might have gone?" I ask politely.

"No, but you might," Grams says. "She's keeping secrets from me, but she tells you everything." She gives me a pointed look.

"Yeah, I know she's a witch," I say slightly guilty.

"She needs to clear the block in her magic. She needs to clear whatever has got her so scared."

I get it. "I know where she is. I will help her get past this block."

"I know you will."

"Thanks Grams. Bye," I say before I rush to get to Bonnie.

I run through the forest. I know these woods like the back of my hand. I spent most of my childhood in these woods. I run to the ruins of Fell's Church. Bonnie is there.

"Bonnie!" I call to her. She looks at me, surprised. "It's just me."

"What are you doing here?" I walk over to her.

"I'm here to help you. Stefan will find my sister. I am going to help you get past your fear." She nods at me. I pick up a leaf from the ground and hand it to her. "It's okay. You can do this."

She tries to lift the leaf with magic again. It doesn't work, so she shakes her hand and tries again. A creaky noise sounds through the area. Bonnie stops and looks around. The noise sounds again, but louder. We both look around, but nothing is there.

"Hello?" Bonnie calls out. It echoes, but no one answers. The sound of wood cracking sounds through the forest. "Anyone there?!" The echo of her shout is also heard throughout the area.

"Bonnie, calm down. It's just us," I say. She looks at me and smiles. I let out a breath I had been holding. I inhale right before the ground underneath us caves in and we fall.

* * *

><p>I wake up on the ground. My whole back hurts, but it is manageable. I get up to find Bonnie next to me unconscious. I shake her to wake her up. Luckily, she didn't land on any large rocks. I assess her for other injuries. She has a cut on her leg, but it isn't too bad. She has a small cut on her head, but she seems fine, so I am not too worried about injuries. I look around to find us trapped in a tomb, I think. The only exit is above us. Bonnie starts to call out for someone to help us, but I know it's useless. Nobody was around us, so nobody can hear us now. Bonnie takes a huge gasp beside me. I turn to look at what she is looking at. It's a closed door with a star inscribed in a circle. Emily Bennett's sign. I turn to Bonnie.<p>

"Hey. It's okay. We will be fine. Someone will find us and we will be okay," I say to her. It is almost all a lie, but I have to keep her hopes up for our sakes. "Just think of this as a way to help you get past your block. You can do this." Bonnie starts to calm down, but she still shies away from the door.

We wait a while sitting in the 'tomb.' Bonnie has tried to get her phone to work, but there is no service. I have been thinking of random things. Some historical facts, a little worrying about Elena, ideas for a new drawing, memories that I quickly move away from, lyrics for a song I recently heard. Bonnie eventually gives up on trying to get her phone to work. She uses it as a flashlight and walks over to the door with Emily's symbol. She presses her hand against it and leans against it. She turns her head as if she was eavesdropping. I get curious, so I walk over to her, ignoring the pain in my back. I place my hand gently on her back and press my ear against the door as well. I hear whispers. They sound in pain. It scares Bonnie, so she walks back away from the door. Someone flashes behind her and touches her on her shoulders. I jump in shock. She freaks out and starts screaming.

"Get away from me!" Bonnie screams. I turn to see that it is only Stefan.

"Bonnie. It's me. It's Stefan," he says.

Bonnie calms down enough to shakily ask, "Stefan?"

He nods. I move over to them. "The ground gave way and we fell," I say.

"Come on. Let's get you two out of here," Stefan says.

"How?" Bonnie asks shakily. It's very obvious she is very scared.

"Close your eyes," I tell her. She doesn't need to be more freaked out now.

"Trust me," Stefan says. "Come here." He says to me. I walk up next to him. He wraps his arms around Bonnie and I and suddenly I feel a rush and we are back on forest level.

"You can open your eyes now," I say gently to Bonnie with my hand on her shoulder.

Bonnie says, "Whoa" when she opens her eyes.

"I didn't want to scare you," Stefan says.

"How did you know where we were?" I ask him.

"Well, your grandmother told me what you were doing. I guessed the where," Stefan says.

"Yeah, that's the same thing I did," I say.

Bonnie still looks a little scared. "I heard them. Down there. Behind the door." I don't know for sure what she is talking about. I only heard whispers, but I guess she heard more. Stefan seems to know what she is talking about. "Are they in pain?"

"In the beginning, yes. But not anymore. They've starved to the point of desiccation," Stefan replies shaking his head.

"But if they have blood-" Bonnie starts to say, but Stefan interrupts her.

"That's not going to happen, Bonnie," Stefan replies. Oh, they are talking about vampires. They must be trapped in that tomb. "They can't get out. Emily saw to that when she had you destroy the crystal."

Bonnie still looks a bit scared, so I add, "You're safe, Bonnie."

* * *

><p>We take Bonnie home after that. As soon as we hit the front porch, Grams is opening the door. "Well, now, look who's returned from battle." She opens her arms and Bonnie rushes into a hug. I smile at the sweet sight. "Can I talk to your friend for a minute?" I can tell she is talking about Stefan, so I follow Bonnie inside her house. Bonnie leans against the counter in her kitchen with her arms wrapped around herself. I make her tea to help calm her down. My mom used to do it for us all the time when we were little, so she knows the meaning behind it. She smiles gratefully when I hand it to her.<p>

"Hey. You'll be okay," I say to her. "I know it seems hard now, but you are one of the strongest people I know. You'll get through it."

Bonnie gives me a big smile. "Thanks, Ems." I give her a big hug.

"I gotta get home. Will you be okay?" I ask her.

She nods to me. "I'll be fine. Go."

I give her another hug. "I love you Bon-Bon."

"I love you too, Ems."

I get home and try to attempt to change into my pajamas. When I try to take off my shirt, pain radiates from my whole back, especially my middle back. I go into the bathroom and look at my back in the mirror. There are bruises starting to form across almost my entire back. There is a deep-ish cut in the center of my back going diagonally from towards my right shoulder to my lower left back. It is only in the center of my back and isn't bleeding too badly. There isn't a need for stitches. I must have gotten this from falling on all those rocks. It's not the worst I've had so I continue to change and go to sleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Elena finally calls me.<p>

"Emmy?" Elena asks when I pick up my phone.

"Elena! Where have you been?! I got your message and I drove to find you and I found your car and it was completely totaled! I got so scared!"

"Emmy, I am so sorry. I meant to call you to tell you that I was okay, but I was busy. I am fine. I am okay." I breath out a sigh of relief.

"Good. I was getting so worried. You do something like this again and I swear I will find you and drag you home by your ears."

Elena laughs. "I will be sure it never happens again."

"You better."

"Hey. I need to ask for a favor."

"You are lucky I am feeling generous because I know you are alive."

"Can you come to talk to Stefan with me?"

"Ugh. Fine. But I get to borrow something from your closet," I say.

"Okay," she replies.

"And I get the last cookie the next time I make them."

"Fine."

"And you have to be my slave for the next week."

"What?! No way!" Elena says laughing.

"Fine, but you still have to do the first two."

"Okay. Just come with me."

I laugh. "I'm on my way now."

"Love you, Lia."

"I love you too, Lena."

* * *

><p>I meet up with Elena in front of the Salvatore Boarding House. We head inside and to Stefan's room. Elena walks in the room.<p>

I hear her say, "hi." I also hear Stefan reply the same. I walk in.

"Hi." Stefan looks at me in confusion. "I'm the emotional support." I say as a way of explanation while I lean against the wall by the door. Stefan nods his head in understanding. He looks back towards Elena.

"You could have told me," she says.

"I wanted to tell you," he replies.

"You said no more lies, only the truth." This is getting intense. I feel like if this wasn't my life it would be a good TV show. I feel like I might need popcorn for this. Elena starts walking towards Stefan "I can handle the truth, Stefan. As crazy as it is, I can handle the fact that you're a vampire. And you have a vampire brother. And that my best friend is a witch. I can accept that the world is a much more mysterious place than I ever thought possible." I have almost always known that the world is dangerous, but I guess growing up in a small town can inhibit that fact for other people. Elena starts walking around Stefan's desk and to him. Her eyes never left Stefan's. This is so intense.

"But this- this lie, I cannot take," Elena continues. "What am I to you? Who am I to you?"

"You are not Katherine," Stefan says. God I hope not. Not only would that be really creepy, but it would kind of suck. Katherine sounds like a total bitch. I would hate to meet her. "You are the opposite of everything that she was," Stefan continues.

"And when did you figure that out?" Elena asks, slightly sarcastically. "Before you kissed me? Before we slept together?" My suspicions have been confirmed. I knew they slept together.

Stefan takes a breath before he answers, "Before I met you." Ooh, this just got more interesting. I move slightly closer and I begin to listen a little more carefully.

Elena's face is shocked and confused. "What?"

"The first day of school… when we met… it wasn't for the first time, Elena," Stefan replies.

Elena asks the same question I was thinking. "Then when was it?"

"May 23, 2009." No. That was the day our parents died.

"But that was-" Elena starts.

"The day everything changed. The day our parents' car drove off of Wickery Bridge," I say. I quickly move next to my twin. I grab her hand and squeeze it tight to let her know I am there. She looks like she had taken a blow to the chest.

"You were there?" Elena asks.

"Every couple of years I come back to see Zach and to see my home. Last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery Bridge," Stefan says. He moves around the desk to stand in front of us. "And I heard the accident. All of it. I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was already submerged." Elena's eyes started to fill with tears. This was obviously very hard to hear for her. My heart started to get very heavy, but I didn't break out in tears. "Your dad, he was still conscious. I was able to get to him, nut he wouldn't let me help him until I helped you two."

"Oh my god,' Elena says, her voice cracking. I grab my twin in a tight hug. "When we woke up in the hospital, nobody could figure out how we got out of the car. They said it was a miracle."

"I grabbed you first," Stefan says to Elena. "Then I quickly rushed to grab Emilia, but by the time I went back for them, it was already too late. I couldn't…. I couldn't save them."

I remember something from the crash. "Wait. I was semi-conscious. I saw you there. I saw you take my sister. I thought I was hallucinating, because the next thing I remember is being in the hospital," I say.

"That was me. I could see that you were conscious, so I grabbed Elena first," Stefan says. "When I pulled you out, I looked at your face, Elena. You looked like Katherine. I couldn't believe the resemblance. After that, I spent months making sure that you weren't her. I watched you. I learned everything that I could about you. And I saw that you were nothing like Katherine." That sounds really stalkery, but I didn't say anything. I let go of Elena but I keep holding her hand. "And I wanted to leave town, but Elena, I couldn't. I couldn't leave without knowing you. I am sorry that I didn't tell you. I wanted to, but you were so sad." Stefan's eyes were filling with tears. HE tried to continue, but he didn't say anything. I took the opportunity to ask something that has been on my mind since I found out about this whole debacle.

"Why does Elena look like her?" I ask.

"You guys have been through so much," Stefan starts. Why would this involve me?

"Why do I look like her, Stefan? What are you not telling me?" Elena asks. She takes a step back as she says this. I follow behind her.

Stefan looks down when he answers. "It didn't make any sense to me." He looks up at Elena. "You were a Gilbert. She was a Pierce. But the resemblance was too similar. And then I learned the truth." He takes another deep breath. I could feel my heart dropping in dread. He looks back at us. "You two were adopted."

My breath left me in a big rush. My heart completely dropped. I felt like I had been stabbed. I didn't know how to handle this information. I just grab my sister and pull her into a hug again. She was completely frozen in shock.

Stefan leads us to his couch. I sat next to Elena and Stefan was on her other side. Her first words after finding this out was, "How do you know this?" I wrap my arms around Elena and rub her back trying to comfort her as much as I can. It's the only thing I can do until I figure how to handle this.

"Your birth certificates from the city records. It says 'Elena Jennifer and Emilia Grace Gilbert. Mystic Falls General.' But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted. There's no record of her ever being pregnant."

Elena turns to Stefan. "What else do you know?"

"For me to go further, I would've had to look into the Pierce family, and I couldn't do that. It was too much of a risk. If someone found out that I was asking about Katherine…" Stefan says.

"Listen to me, it doesn't matter, Lena," I say.

"Emilia is right. Elena, you are the woman that I love. I love you," Stefan says. They stare deeply into each other's eyes. I could tell they were about to start kissing, so I leave the room quickly, but very quietly. I walk down the stairs and go into the kitchen. I start searching the kitchen for mugs and tea. It will probably not be enough, but it was the only thing I could think of to do. I find some generic tea and start heating up water. I pour it into a mug and when I start to steep my tea, Damon walks downstairs putting on his leather jacket. He sees me and slows down.

I take a deep breath before saying quietly, "Thank you." I know he heard me. "Thank you for saving my sister. It means a lot to me, so thank you."

He nods before softly saying, "No problem." He then walks out the door. I pour the rest of the hot water into another mug and start steeping that before bringing it up to my sister. I knock on Stefan's door before walking in. Stefan has his arms wrapped around my sister who was crying. I hand her the tea.

"I think it's time we head home. Jenna will be worried," I say softly.

* * *

><p>Sure enough, Jenna was on the couch, quickly flipping through a magazine when we got home. You could feel the worry from her.<p>

"I don't set a lot of rules, Elena. Not with you two. I trust you to tell me the truth," Jenna says. Bad moment to bring up talking about the truth. Jenna gets up and walks around the couch and up to Elena, who was in front of me. "Where were you? Why did you lie to me about it? I thought we were closer than that."

"Now is not the time you want to talk to me about lies," Elena says. She goes to go upstairs.

"Don't do that. Don't turn this back on me. I didn't do anything," Jenna says loudly.

"Okay, question. Are we adopted?" Elena asks. Jenna stops. Her eyes open wide in surprise and she swallows. "I trust you to tell me the truth too, Jenna. How could you not tell us? I thought we were closer than that." Elena says throwing what Jenna just said back in her face. I say nothing.

Elena starts to run up the stairs. "Your parents- they asked me not to!" Jenna shouts to her.

"I don't want to hear it!" Elena shouts back from upstairs. Jenna turns to me. I just stay quiet as I walk up the stairs. My mind is still so confused.

* * *

><p>AN: This is officially the longest chapter at over 7,500 words. Thank you for reading. I completely made up Elena's middle name. I don't know what her actual middle name is. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, and follows.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch. 11

A/N: I am so so so sorry I haven't updated. You have no idea how bad I feel about not updating. But I have been so busy this summer. I just moved a few months ago and I have been preparing for it basically all summer. Searching for houses and schools with my family, preparing my brother for college, and summer activities all added up to a busy summer and no time for writing. I am sorry about that. The when I did move, I had so much to do. Lots of work and lots of activities lead to even less time to write. But I had this week free, so I used it to catch up on TV shows and then to write. My schedule did free up a bit, so I might update a little bit more often.

I have gotten some reviews asking about why I started with season 1. I wanted to develop Emilia's character more before she met Elijah. That way you will see how much Elijah changes her. I am really looking forward to when they finally meet. I am probably more excited about seeing what you guys think, then you all are about reading it. I have even begun to write the scene. Unfortunately that is not for a while.

Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every time? I do not own the Vampire Diaries. If I did, I would not be writing this and the show would not be as crazy. But because I don't own the Vampire Diaries and I am writing this, there are these great characters, Alliana and Emilia. But I do own those two. Enough of my rambling. Enjoy the chapter. I apologize for the mistakes.

* * *

><p>Previously on "The Lost One": Alliana meets the Mikaelsons and becomes very close with all of them, especially Elijah and Niklaus. She falls in love with Niklaus but wants both of them. Her twin sister, Tatia, also moves to the village and Alliana intentionally makes Tatia reveal to Klaus and Elijah that she is playing with both of them. Emilia is the younger twin sister to Elena. She knows about vampires and witches. She is shown to be smart and super supportive as well as a fighter and protector. She almost kills Stefan when she finds out that he hurt Elena. She spares his life and helps him to find Elena when she disappears. She finds Bonnie at the ruins of Fell's Church and falls into the tomb hole with her. She gets hurt, but ignores it to help Bonnie. She goes with Elena to confront Stefan and finds out that they are adopted.<p>

* * *

><p>The next day passes in silence and tension within our house. Elena chooses to spend time with Stefan rather than spending time in the house. Jeremy stays in his room for the most part. Jenna tries to make conversation, but I wasn't really in the mood. I stayed in the house and distracted myself with drawing and listening to music. It helped to keep my mind off of the awkward tension in our house and the reason for all the awkward tension; the fact that our aunt or parents didn't bother to tell Elena and I that we're adopted. My mind stayed off of that fact for most of the day at least until dinner. Elena got a pizza and it was really hard to get my mind off the fact that my little brother who was shoving pizza into his mouth wasn't actually my brother. I could tell my twin was thinking similar thoughts. I just hoped that I would eventually accept it as part of my life, but I wasn't quite there yet. It was too new of a thought. After dinner, my sister dragged me to her room. She handed me some vervain flowers, another bracelet that holds vervain, and a necklace that I will give to Caroline.<p>

"It's so pretty," Caroline says when I hand her the necklace. We are walking in the courtyard at school during lunch. "Thank you."

"Here. Let me help you put it on," I say. She giggles and turns around. She holds her hair up while I clasp the necklace around her neck. "There." She smiles and turns back around, releasing her hair over the necklace. "Gorgeous."

"Thanks again. God, it'll go with, like, everything." We continue walking to an empty picnic table. "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. Just a little friend gift," I say. I'm glad Elena let me be the one to give the necklace to Caroline, because with all that has been happening the past couple of days, I need my best friend's perkiness.

We get to the picnic table and sit down. "A Lesbian friend Necklace? Cause we're freaky like that?" She winks at me as she says this and I start laughing.

"Oh, always." I say in a fake seductive voice with wink back and we start laughing more. "No. Just, your friendship is very important to me."

"Why are you being so mushy?" Caroline asks as she opens her lunch bag and grabs her sandwich.

"Because you have been avoiding Elena and me by default. I don't want you to forget that you are important to me, because of your avoidance of some issue you think might arise because of whatever is going on between you and Matt. And besides, Elena told me that she is happy for you and Matt, and that it is totally okay if you want to date him," I reply. I give her a sly look at the last part. She sees the look, but avoids my gaze as she blushes slightly.

"I was gonna talk to Elena about that. I am going to talk to Elena about that, but there just isn't much to say."

I rest my chin on my hand. "Well, there's gotta be something or else you wouldn't be worrying over what to say to Elena." I raise my eyebrows at her, daring her to argue with my point.

"We've hung out a couple of times."

"Good. Give me some details." I really hope they like each other. They could both use someone nice and available. "Are you guys just friends or … friendlier?" I say with another wink.

"I just feel like we've peaked as friends." I nod at her with a big smile and do the childish "oooh" thing. The one that kids did in middle and elementary school if a boy and a girl were talking or someone got called to the office. Caroline laughs. Then she turns serious for a second. "I shouldn't be talking to you about this. I need to talk to Elena first. It's weird. It's gonna be weird. It's gonna be weird, right?"

"If it's what you and Matt want, then I speak for both myself and my twin, then it's not about us."

"But it's all about Elena. Matt's not over her, and we all know it. "

"She's with Stefan. Matt knows that. He knows he has to move on. If not, I will sit him down and have a serious conversation with him." I unwrap my sandwich. I notice Caroline has this weird look on her face. "Onto a less serious and less slightly awkward topic," Caroline's face brightens slightly. "What are you wearing for the dance and how are we getting ready for it?" Caroline's face brightens more to a large smile. I knew that would be a great way to change the topic and a good topic to change to.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you two are adopted," Bonnie says at dinner. She is sitting with Elena and I at the Grille for dinner. I don't even remember how we got onto this topic. We have practically finished eating. Bonnie is playing with her leftover food, Elena is finishing her fries, and I am alternating between stealing fries from my sister and drawing a picture of a horse.<p>

"We never saw it coming," I say. I continue my drawing.

"Yeah, and it gets weirder," my sister says. I pause for a second to listen to her. "It lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as our birthparents."

"You saw our birth certificates?" I ask a little bit surprised.

"Yeah. None of it makes any sense," Elena says. That is very true.

"Which is why you should talk to Jenna," Bonnie says. Elena and I both groan at the same time. As much as I love Jenna, I don't want to talk about it yet. I know I should, but I want to keep believing that my parents are 100% my parents, as much as I hate being in denial. "First of all, Ems, when are you not looking for information? Anytime you are curious about something, you can't sleep until you find the answer or research the crap out of it. Second of all, the Gilbert twins I know would always want the truth, good or bad." Damn her for being right.

"Is there a third of all?" I ask.

"Yes. Elena, you just found out your boyfriend is a vampire," Bonnie says. And one of our best friends is a witch. "So unless your birthparents are aliens…how bad could it be?" Elena and I both chuckle at that.

"Okay, look, we have to go to the store," Elena says, getting up.

I follow her. "Our outfits for the dance are severely lacking accessories."

"Okay, I'll pay the bill," Bonne says. I go over and give her a quick hug before I grab my purse. We say our goodbyes and we leave.

We were leaving Sephora when Elena gets a phone call. I was looking over my purchase of this new eyeliner by the car when Elena's body freezes. She starts looking around when I notice a figure in black behind her, staring at her with a cellphone up to his ear.

"Elena, behind you!" I say. She turns around and then she unlocks the car, we get in and quickly drive away. Elena starts hyperventilating slightly, so I try to calm her down. "It's okay. He didn't get you. You're fine. We are both fine." It calms her down enough, so I ask her, "Who was that?"

"That was the vampire I hit with my car."

"The one that got really close to you when you were trapped in the car and then ran away before you could see who he was?"

"Yeah."

She still seems a little shaken up so I tell her to drop me off. I will take the purchases and she can go to Stefan's.

* * *

><p>The next night, I was packing some snacks into a bag with my outfit and a few other necessities for the dance in the kitchen. Elena just walks in after hanging out with Stefan almost all day. Jenna is cleaning up the living room, wasting time before the dance, seeing as she is completely dressed and ready to go.<p>

"I talked to the insurance company. Car's totaled. You can keep using mine for now," Jenna says, folding a blanket.

"So you're coming to the dance?" I ask. Elena looks at me like 'why would you continue this conversation?'

Jenna turns around to face us. "Alaric asked me to help chaperone." Aww and ew. It's cute, because they are cute together. But it's gross, because it is my aunt and my teacher. Parent-teacher conferences would just be dates if they were together. But I am happy for them. There is this awkward tension-filled silence. Elena almost bits into an apple, but then she turns her back to Jenna to put it down on the counter.

"Why didn't you tell us, Jenna?" Elena finally asks, turning back to face Jenna. It was blunt, but it got rid of the elephant in the room.

"Your mom was going to do it eventually," Jenna replies as she crosses her arms across her chest. "I never thought I'd have to.

"If our mom was here right now, and we asked, she'd tell us the truth," I gently say.

Jenna uncrosses her arms and takes a breath before she starts her story. "Your dad was about to leave the office one night, when this girl showed. She was 16, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her two babies, and gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared." Jenna walks towards us. "And there you two were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby. It just wasn't happening. All Miranda wanted was to be a mom."

"Well, why were our parents' names on our birth certificates?" Elena asks. We are still trying to process everything.

"Your dad was a doctor. They didn't want to lose you two, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone wanted proof, they had documentation," Jenna replies.

"Do you know anything else about her?" I ask.

"Just her name. Isobel." Jenna leaves us to process after giving us both a warm hug. Elena silently goes to get ready in her room, while I grab my bag and head to Caroline's.

* * *

><p>Caroline and I got ready at her house. We had a great time doing makeup, laughing, and dancing to music while getting ready. I helped Caroline with her fancy up-do. She helped me to curl my hair in the 50's style. We met Bonnie at the dance. All three of us started to dance together. Bonnie's hair is curled and her bangs are curled very tightly. She is wearing an off-white spaghetti strap dress with large blue and brown flower outline designs. Caroline is wearing a puffy yellow skirt and a matching yellow sweater with white flowers on her shoulders. I am wearing a white dress with a square neckline and small green polka dots. My hair is held back with a green scarf that matches the polka dots. We all are wearing the poofy skirts of the 50's. We had a nice time, but it eventually got old, so we got some punch and watched as my twin walked in with both of the Salvatore brothers.<p>

We walk over to Elena at a table by herself. "Having fun?" Elena asks us.

"No, but this," Caroline says, motioning to her entire body. "took about two hours, so I'm at least staying half of that." We all smile at that.

"What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie asks.

Elena turns around to look at Stefan and Damon chatting. "He wanted to come." Which means he is helping to protect Elena. That stalker guy must be here. "I promise that he'll behave." He better.

"So what is this, like, a threesome now, you and the Salvatore brothers?" Caroline asks. That is a gross thought for me to think about.

"No, but if I'm gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon," Elena says. Ugh, that means I have to learn to tolerate him. "It's not like I can kill him."

"There's a thought," Bonnie says as she raises her glass of punch.

"I'll help," both Caroline and I say. Bonnie, Caroline, and I clink our cups of punch together as we look at Damon, plotting his death.

Elena goes to dance with Stefan and Caroline, Bonnie and I head to the dance floor for another couple of songs. Eventually we get bored again. We just go back to our table and talk. Soon trouble arrives.

"Hi, Bonnie," Damon says. Hello trouble. This is either going to be terrible or really good. "Wanna dance?"

"I'm outta here," Bonnie says as she starts to walk away. This is gonna be good.

Damon stops her. "Please give me another chance." Bonnie just rolls her eyes and walks away.

Caroline steps up to him. "Back off, Damon." Then she follows Bonnie and walks away. Elena and Stefan walk up behind him, saving me from having to deal with him.

"Where did they go?" Elena asks. Damon turns around to face them.

"I don't know," Damon replies.

"What'd you say to them?" Stefan asks.

"I was perfectly polite," Damon replies. He was, but nobody likes him, so they walk away. It was great. "Elena…" Oh no. I have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. "Would you like to dance?"

"I would love to," she replies. Damon gets a smug look on his face. Wait a second. What is my twin up to? Elena turns to Stefan. "May I have this dance?"

Oh god. That was too perfect. Damon's face falls as Elena and Stefan walk onto the dance floor. I can't keep it in anymore. I start cracking up. Damon turns to me.

"Oh, that was brutal," I say. Damon gives me this annoyed face, but I keep laughing. He looks away and then I start to feel bad. "C'mon. I'll dance with you." I say reluctantly. He turns to me in surprise. "But only for this song." He holds out his hand and I place mine on his. We walk to the middle of the dance floor near Elena and Stefan. Damon twirls me before we start dancing. He looks up and out around the gym. Elena and Stefan see us and give me a weird look. "I have to learn how to deal with him too," I say to them. They accept my answer and go back into their own little bubble. I notice that Damon keeps looking around. I get curious so I ask him, "Have you found the creepy stalker vampire?"

"No, but keep a lookout. If you see him, tell me or Stefan and find some safety."

"I can handle him," I mutter. He looks down at me for a second. I stare at him, daring him to challenge me. He goes back to keeping a look out. We continue the dance in silence.

* * *

><p>After my dance with Damon, I danced with a few other people. I danced with my friends Valerie, Erica, and Teddy, I danced with Stefan for a few songs, and I got Jeremy to dance. Valerie Jerico is the funniest person ever. She is super sarcastic and completely inappropriate half the time, but she is a great friend. She has pale skin and straight dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. Erica Murnion is the stereotypical sassy black friend. She takes crap from nobody and doesn't need anybody telling her that she is fabulous, because she knows it and flaunts it. I envy her confidence but she has every right to be confident. She is skinny and gorgeous with her amazing, curly hair and flawless dark skin, but she compliments others more than she compliments herself. She is also super supportive. They are great friends, and I wish I could hang out with them more outside of school. They are my brainiac friends, so I hang out with them a lot during our AP courses, but not much outside of school. Theodore Richardson is the sweetest person ever. Everyone calls him Teddy as like 'Teddy Bear.' I swear he cannot hurt a fly. He always sees the best in people and with his light blond hair and bright green eyes, he looks like some angel. He is a complete gentleman, which is why he is one of the few guys I danced with.<p>

Getting Jeremy to dance was an interesting experience. He copped a plea with Mr. Williams, the English teacher for punch duty at the dance in exchange for extra credit. I am on great terms with Mr. Williams, so he let me drag my brother away for a few minutes. But I had to drag him away from someone else. He was with this girl Anna. She seemed nice. A little forward, but nice. She helped him with his history paper, so all I could do was thank her and promise her I would bring my brother back. Jeremy was reluctant to dance, but I made him anyways, and he had a nice time, and after he went back to his station.

A little while later, I knew something was happening on. Stefan rushed off and Elena looks really worried. I rush over to her and ask what's wrong. Then, she gets a phone call. I hear a male voice talking to her. "Hello, Elena." That must be the creepy stalker vampire. "Here's what you are going to do." Elena and I start looking around for the vampire. "There's an exit door behind you." We both stare at the open door. "You have 5 seconds." My twin refuses him. "Or your brother dies." As soon as we hear that, we turn to Jeremy and there the creepy vampire is. He is standing next to an oblivious Jeremy, who is passing out punch. "I can snap his neck so fast I bet there's not even a witness. Start walking." The vampire is going to die tonight. He threatened my family.

"Don't you dare touch him," Elena says. I was thinking the exact same thing.

"Keep walking," he says. I give Elena a quick message with my eyes. I tell her that everything will be okay. She runs off and the vampire follows her. I get out my phone and text the Salvatore brothers. I quickly tell them what is going on, and then I rush off after my sister and the vampire. I find them in the cafeteria. He blocks her from stabbing him with a stake made out of a broken mop. He throws it behind him. I quickly rush behind him. He goes to bit Elena, but I get to him first. I perform a flying kick to his left side, knocking him away and to the ground. I land crouched on the balls of my feet. I quickly stand up and remove the skirt part of my dress, leaving me in leggings and able to move a lot easier. The vampire stands up and rushes to attack me. I drop to the floor leaving out my leg, knocking him to the floor again. This time he is up faster. I notice Elena has backed away. I perform a roundhouse kick to his head but he catches my foot at the last second. He pushes my foot away, which knocks me off balance, but I remain on my feet. He goes to attack me again. I prepare for another attack, but Stefan throws him away, across tables and almost to the other side of the room. I run to Elena and pull her close to me.

The vampire gets up, but Damon calls out to him, "Hey, Dickhead." When the vampire turns around Damon holds up his hands, one carrying a stake. "No one wants to kill you, we just want to talk."

The vampire turns around and rushes to attack us again. Damon throws his stake to Stefan who stabs the vampire in the stomach when he is about to land from leaping off one of the tables. The vampire falls to his knees. Elena backs up to behind Stefan and I grab my skirt. Damon walks over next to Stefan and in between Elena and the vampire.

"Feel like talking now?" Damon asks.

"Screw you," the vampire replies. Damon nods to Stefan and Stefan pushes the stake further into the vampire's body.

"Wrong answer," Stefan says.

"Wait." I call out. Damon and Stefan turn to me. "I've got a few things that might work better." I pull out a spray canister and a few smaller stakes. Damon and Stefan give me confused looks, so I just step up and spray the solution from the canister into the vampire's face. His hands come up to his eyes and he starts groaning loudly almost to the point of screaming. I pull each of his hands from his face, force them to his sides and stab them with the smaller stakes, pinning his hands to sides. I hold up the canister in front of the vampire's face and I get real close to him. "This is a mix of pepper spray and high concentration of vervain. I will keep spraying this in your face until you give us the answers we want. And trust me I have got a lot more toys to play with. You threatened my family, there is nothing stopping me from having fun with you," I say in the most threatening, sinister voice I can muster. I see Damon and Stefan shiver out of the corner of my eye. "So those boys over there are only going to ask once."

I step back and let Stefan get up close. "Why are you doing this?" Stefan asks.

"Because it's fun," the idiot replies. I spray some solution in his face. The vampire groans very loudly, and more tears stream down his face from the solution. I grab a few more things from inside my skirt. I came prepared for this.

Stefan pushes the stake in the idiot's stomach further in as he asks "What do you want with Elena?"

The vampire looks at Elena and says "She looks like Katherine." I give a quick spray for that. He groans, but not as loud as the first two.

Stefan backs up. Damon asks, "You knew Katherine?"

"Oh. You thought you were the only ones." The idiot replies. He gives this gasping laugh. "You don't even remember me."

Damon crouches down to make himself eye level with the idiot vampire. "Tell me how to get in the tomb."

"No," the stupid vampire says. I slam a very small stake, thicker but shorter than a pencil into the pressure point in his right shoulder. He groans loudly. "The Grimoire."

"Where is it?" Damon asks. He stares at Damon not answering. So I spray some solution in his face and slam another stake into his other shoulder at the same time. The vampire gives the loudest groan yet.

He groans out, "Check the journal. The Journal. Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert." Damon stands up and the vampire gives out gasping breaths.

Stefan asks "Who else is working with you?"

The vampire refuses to answer. Damon asks again, "Who else is there?"

"No. You are going to have to kill me." Damon looks to me. I motion to him meaning 'He's all yours.' Damon nods to Stefan who then removes the stake from the vampire's stomach and stabs him in the chest, desiccating him.

I can hear Elena gasping behind me. "What do we- How are we going to find the others now?"

Damon replies, "He had to die." I don't disagree with him on that thought.

"But…" Elena tries to stutter out.

"Elena, he's been invited in," Stefan says. There is a moment of silence and we hear a clunk outside. We look to the window and see the shape of Mr. Saltzman outside. Stefan nods to Damon. "Go, I've got this." Stefan pulls Elena to his chest. I start to clean up my stuff. I reattach my skirt and re-hide all of my equipment. After a few seconds, Stefan releases Elena and looks to me.

"I'll take her home. You deal with idiot's body over there," I say. Stefan nods to me. I grab Elena's hand and I lead her to the car. When we get home, she sits on the couch, while I start the tea kettle.

Elena looks over at me. I am almost scared to know what she is going to ask. She takes a breath before saying, "It was scary to see you like that in there."

I walk over to sit with her on the couch. "I did it to protect you." I couldn't look her in the eye. I was too scared to see in her eyes anger, disappointment, or the worst, fear.

"I know which is why I am forgiving you. It scared me, but Stefan and Damon were doing the same. You were all just doing it to protect me. And to get information that will protect me eventually."

"He threatened both you and Jeremy. There was nothing I wouldn't do to protect you guys. I will always protect you, I promise."

Elena smiles and we hug. "Isn't it funny that you are the younger twin and you are the one who protects me?"

I laugh. "It's because I pushed you out first, because I knew it was time." I can fell Elena smile wider. We release and relax on the couch for a few more minutes before Stefan walks in. The tea kettle starts to whistle and Stefan goes to get it. I turn back to Elena. "I will leave you two. If you are going to spend the night at Stefan's, text me and I will bring you clothes in the morning." Elena smiles at me again and I head upstairs to my room.

* * *

><p>The next day, I was knocking on the Salvatore Boarding House's door with a bag of clothes and a coffee mug in hand. Damon opens the door. "What?" He asks a little harshly.<p>

I just give him an annoyed look. "Let me in. I've got clothes and coffee for my sister." Damon reluctantly opens the door. I walk inside and start to head to Stefan's bedroom.

"Can you use your super vampire hearing to let me know if I'm about to walk into something I really don't want to see?" I ask.

"Sure but first I have to talk to you," Damon says.

I roll my eyes. "Fine," I say. I turn around to face him with a huff. "What is it?"

"About last night…" Damon begins. I know he is talking about what I did to the idiot vampire last night.

"I told you I could handle him," I say with a smirk.

"That was more than handling him," Damon says.

"I am a human girl in a world with the supernatural. Statistically, there is no chance for me being able to fight something and win. Even without the supernatural, I am at risk. So when I first discovered the existence of the supernatural, I researched the crap out of everything supernatural. Then as I got older, I decided to learn to fight to protect my family. That is what I was doing last night. Protecting my family." I say.

Damon nods, thinking over what I said and accepting it. Then he gets a look on his face, like a weird glint in his eyes. "You are a brainiac," he says.

"Yeah…I guess."

"Good. You are going to help," he says, walking off towards Stefan's room.

"What? What am I now helping with?" I say following him. He quickly runs up into Stefan's room. I stay outside, because I do not want to see my sister in bed with some guy, even if it is only Stefan. The door is open, so I can hear the conversation that is going on inside.

"Damon!" I hear Stefan and Elena cry out in surprise. "What are you doing here?" I hear Stefan ask.

"Oh, stop being smutty," Damon says in his smarmy, snarky asshole voice.

"Seriously, get out," Stefan says.

"If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it," Damon says. Ugh, weird. "Now listen, we have some very important business to discuss." Damon then calls me in. "Emilia, get in here."

I walk in, still holding the clothes bag and coffee. I walk over and hand Elena the coffee, then I walk back over to the window. Elena places the coffee on the bedside table. I am not liking being a part of this. One because I have to see my sister covered in sheets with a guy, and that is just awkward for me. Two, because I don't know why I am even here. Three, because it is Damon's plan.

"Does it have to be right now?" Elena asks.

"Yeah, Damon. Can't we just do this later? Particularly a time when my sister and Stefan are dressed and not in bed together?" I say. Elena and Stefan awkwardly look down at themselves.

"Well, we have lots to do," Damon says. "Now that we are all friends and working towards a common goal." Stefan, Elena and I all share a look, as Damon gets off the bed. "So, in order to open the tomb, we need to find the journal, to get the grimoire, to undo the spells. First things first, since you are Elena _Gilbert_," Damon says stressing our last name. He must know about the whole adopted thing. "You're on journal duty."

"Since when am I helping?" Elena asks.

"Well, Stefan's helping, and you've taken up residence in Stefan's bed, ergo…" Damon says. Stefan leans back in annoyance. I just roll my eyes.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Stefan says.

Elena lies back down in the bed. "I'll look for it today."

"Good," Damon replies.

"That still doesn't explain why I am here," I say.

Damon turns to me. "You are our resident brainiac, I'm sure we will need you at some point." He turns back to Elena and Stefan, waving me off as inconsequential. I roll my eyes at his explanation and his behavior.

"How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire?" Stefan asks. "We're really going to take the word of this vampire? He seemed like a bit of a dimwit." I give a short chuckle at the truth of that statement.

"In lieu of any other options," Damon says.

"Okay, what exactly is a grimoire, anyway?" Elena asks, sitting up.

"It's a witch's cookbook," Damon replies.

"Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself. So they would document their work in their grimoire, which would be passed down the family line, most of the time," I say.

Damon looks at me for a second then turns back to Elena. "Yeah. Cookbook."

"What about this mystery vampire?" Stefan asks.

"Yeah, Dimwit obviously wasn't working alone." I say. "So whoever is out there, knows who you are."

"And I don't like that disadvantage, so…" Damon says. He claps twice. "Chop, chop." He starts to walk away. "You know, I really like this whole ménage a threesome/foursome team thing. It's got a bit of a kink to it," he says still walking away, but facing us. He chuckles and I roll my eyes again. "Don't screw it up," he says walking out of the room.

I turn and throw the bag of clothes at Elena. She catches it. "I'll see you later." I start to walk away, but then I remember. "Jeremy used the journal for a history paper. I don't know what he did with it, but check some of dad's old stuff to see if he put it back." After saying that, I leave the room. I am about to leave the Boarding House before I call out to Damon super sarcastically, "Bye, Damon. Call me if you want to waste my time again." I quickly leave after that.

* * *

><p>I spend some time listening to music and painting. It feels like a painting day. I got hungry, so I went downstairs to get a snack. I saw Stefan and Elena looking through a box of stuff. They must be looking at some of the old stuff Dad kept.<p>

I pull off my headphones to hear Stefan say, "There are other ways to get what you want besides killing people. Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others."

I say with snark as I walk into the kitchen, "Is that why he enjoys wasting my time? He enjoys inflicting pain on me by having to deal with his presence." Elena and Stefan smile at that. I wrap my headphones around my iPod and I put it in my pocket.

Stefan continues, "For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that. I'm not going to make that same mistake again." I figure out that he must not be helping Damon to actually help Damon with his plan, but to help stop him.

"Oh, good. For a second there, I thought we were actually helping Damon," I say.

"So what do think will happen if Damon opens the tomb and gets Katherine back?" Elena asks. People are going to die no matter what.

"I think no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die," Stefan replies.

"That is exactly what I was thinking," I say. Elena looks at me and nods, agreeing with me. Elena then exhales and keeps looking through the box. She picks up a picture. I notice who it is. "That's Jonathan Gilbert."

All three of us look at the picture. Elena picks up a box and asks, "What is this?" as she opens it. Stefan stands up from looking over Elena's shoulder. I can tell from his face he knows exactly what it is and that it is not pleasant. I know that it was headgear used to keep vampires from attacking people when they were being rounded up in 1864.

Jeremy then walks up to us. "What are you guys doing?'

"Hey. Just going through some old stuff. Feeling sentimental," Elena starts to say.

"Hey Jer, where is that old journal you were using for your history extra credit essay?" I cut in and ask.

"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman. He wanted to see it," Jeremy says. Stefan, Elena, and I look at each other. Stefan is going to go after him. I thank Jeremy. He grabs a snack and goes back into his room. Stefan just leaves the house.

I turn to Elena. "I am going to go after your boyfriend. I need to stop him from hurting the only good history teacher we have ever had." Elena just nods and I walk off, following Stefan very quickly.

* * *

><p>I am so glad this town is small and I know it well. I know all the shortcuts that allow me to make it to school within a matter of minutes. I get there right as Stefan intimidates Mr. Saltzman into sitting down.<p>

I see Stefan holding a stake shooter of some kind. I walk in and grab it from Stefan's hands. Both of the guys turn to look at me in surprise. "Don't mind me. I am just here to keep the peace." I look at the shooter again and then at Mr. Saltzman. "Is this yours?" He nods. "Is it compressed air? You must have made it yourself." I then realize that my favorite teacher has a secret side. Weird. I nod to Stefan.

"Who are you?" Stefan asks. Mr. Saltzman doesn't reply. "I'm not going to hurt you…unless you try that again."

"No, you won't," I say to Stefan. "He's like the only good history teacher we have ever had." Mr. Saltzman gives me a small smile. I turn to Mr. Saltzman. "Just answer his questions. He is not as bad as his intimidating stature makes you believe."

I then get a text from Elena. "**Damon at house. Talking with Jenna. He is cooking.**"

I turn back to Stefan and Mr. Saltzman. "I've got to go." I turn to Stefan. "I have to deal with your brother. So, if you would like to finish this quickly, so you can deal with your brother, that would be great." I drop the stake shooter onto Mr. Saltzman's desk. "Bye, Mr. Saltzman. See you in class." I then leave.

When I get home, I hear Damon and Jenna talking about Logan Fell. Elena is listening in on their conversation. Suddenly I hear, "Hello, Elena and Emilia." We walk in to see Damon chopping vegetables on the island with a towel over his left shoulder and Jenna sitting on the side counter drinking wine.

"Hey, where have you two been?" Jenna asks. "We're cooking dinner." I give a look to Jenna. She shrugs and says, "Damon is cooking while I watch."

"Is Stefan with you?" Damon asks.

"He'll be here soon," Elena says. I walk over to help Damon with cooking. The least I can do until Stefan gets here is be civil. After cooking, I go sit down on the couch with Jeremy and we start playing video games, while Elena starts to set the table. We eat quickly and afterwards Jeremy and I go back to playing video games. Soon, Damon joins us, surprisingly. I give up my controller to let him play. Damon says he has never played before, but he starts to win very early into the game. He attributes it to quick reflexes. I go back to help Elena and Jenna clear up the kitchen.

"He is ridiculously hot," Jenna whispers to us. Elena shushes her. I know Damon heard her, because I can feel him smirking all the way over here.

"He's an ass," Elena and I both say. Elena starts to look through some more of Dad's old things.

"What are you doing with all this stuff?" Jenna asks.

"I thought there might be something about our birth parents," Elena replies. I start to look through it too.

"Have you told Jeremy?" Jenna asks.

I look up at her. "We will, when the time is right." I am just beginning to accept it. I can't imagine having that conversation with Jeremy yet. The doorbell rings. It must be Stefan. Elena and Damon both go to get it. Damon leaves his controller behind, so I quickly run over and grab the controller. I shove Jeremy away while I grab the controller and we both start laughing. After a minute, Damon walks over and sits down on the arm of the sofa. Elena and Stefan are behind him in the archway.

Damon starts talking to Jeremy. This can't be good. "So, I heard you found a cool journal from back in the day." Jeremy nods, still staring at the game. I am still playing, but I am keeping a close ear on the conversation. This must mean that either Mr. Saltzman lost the journal or Stefan is not sharing it with Damon. "Who'd you show it to?"

"So?" Jeremy asks.

"Don't ask questions, just spill," Damon interrupts.

Jeremy pauses the game. He chuckles and asks, "You're kidding me, right?"

I look to Elena and ask her with my eyes what is going on. She ignores me. She turns to Jeremy. "Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?" Jeremy asks.

"Who else did you tell?" Elena asks.

"Just that girl, Anna," Jeremy says.

"The hot, weird one," Damon says. Jeremy nods. They talked about Anna? She is the one I saw Jeremy with at the dance. Why would Jeremy talk to Damon about her.

"Wait, who is Anna?" Stefan asks.

Damon turns to Stefan. "That's what I want to find out." Elena phone rings, and she goes to get it. Damon turns back to Jeremy. "How do you know her?"

"I just know her," Jeremy replies. "She wants me to meet her at the Grille tonight."

"Perfect. I'll drive," Damon says. "C'mon," he says as he grabs my brother's arm and drags him. This is bizarre.

I turn to Stefan. "Deal with your brother, please." He nods and follows.

Elena motions me over, still on the phone. We rush upstairs to Elena's room. "Ok, we're alone." She says on the phone. She puts the phone on speaker. "Bon, you are on speaker. Emmy is here."

Bonnie had her date tonight. "Give us all the details, Bonnie. We're dying over here," I say.

"It's going great," Bonnie says. "He is a perfect gentleman."

"Gentleman, huh?" I ask. That is so sweet. I love a good gentleman.

"I know!" Bonnie exclaims. "Boring, huh? I just want to grab him and lay one on him."

"Why don't you?" Elena asks.

"'Cause I'm a chicken," Bonnie replies.

"You are a powerful witch goddess," I say.

Elena and Bonnie laugh. "Yeah, seize the day, Broom Hilda," Elena says.

Bonnie laughs again. "Okay," she says. "I'm gonna text you both later with more details."

"You better," Elena and I say at the same time. Elena then hangs up. Stefan walks over to us. "Where's Damon?" We both ask.

"He left to track down Jeremy's friend, Anna," Stefan replies. "see if there was anything there."

"Why are you not there with him?" I ask.

"If he gets to the journal before we do…" Elena starts. I give her a look. That's what she is worried about. Not the fact that our little brother is alone with a homicidal vampire.

"Doesn't matter," Stefan says. He pulls out a folded stack of papers from his back pocket.

"Is that a copy of the journal?" I ask.

"Yes. Mr. Saltzman made a copy and he was kind enough to loan it to me," Stefan says.

"He did?" I ask skeptically.

"Not exactly, but I got it," Stefan replies. I give him a look. "He's fine."

We start to read through it. I give Stefan a little crap about leaving Damon alone with my brother, but he promises to make it up to me. We then go back to reading. I am trying to remember reading any part about Emily Bennett, but I couldn't off the top of my head. So I reread parts of it. Soon we found that it is in Stefan's father, Giuseppe Salvatore's grave, so, of course we go to dig it up. Elena asks why Stefan's father is not buried in his family's tomb. Stefan replies it is because the tomb was built well after he died.

"Are you sure the grimoire is in there with him?" I ask as we set up torches around the grave.

"As sure as I could be," Stefan replies.

"Great," Elena replies.

"I can do this on my own," Stefan says.

"I said I would do whatever I can to help," Elena replies.

"And I thought this would be an interesting experience. Not many people can say they have dug up a grave," I say.

"I know, and I appreciate that-" Stefan starts.

"This town is our home," Elena cuts in. "My friends and family are here. You are here. I don't want that tomb opened any more than you do." I agree with her. Damon is not going to open that tomb. Stefan nods and we start digging.

* * *

><p>We dig for a while. It seems like hours of digging. Eventually, Elena and I have to stop. Stefan keeps digging until he hits something hard. There is a loud clang and we know we have hit it. Stefan opens the casket to find his father's skeleton and a book. Emily Bennett's grimoire.<p>

He grabs the grimoire and we start to look through it when we hear, "well what do you know?" Elena and I stand up and turn around, and there we see Damon. "This is an interesting turn of events."

Stefan gets out of the grave and stands in between Damon and Elena and I. "I'm sorry," Stefan says.

"So am I," Damon replies. "For even thinking for a second that I could trust you."

"You are not capable of trust," Stefan replies. "The fact that you are here means that you read the journal and were planning on doing this by yourself."

"Of course I was going to do it by myself," Damon replies. "Because the only one I can count on is me! You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan." Damon looks to Elena. "But you… You had me fooled." Elena looks guiltily at Damon. There is an intense silence for a minute before Damon says to Stefan, "So what are you going to do now? Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out." Nodding to Elena.

"You won't kill her," Stefan says. Damon raises his eyebrows. Stefan shakes his head. Damon rushes and grabs me, holding me tightly to his chest. Elena gasps.

"I can do one better," Damon says. He holds me so tightly I can barely move. I try to shake him off, but he is too strong. I can feel the panic rising up inside me. Memories are pushing to the front of my mind, but I hold them back, still trying to fight off Damon. Damon holds my back to his chest with one arm, so tightly it puts enough pressure on my chest to make it hard to breathe. I gasp trying to catch my breath. He bites into his wrist and holds it to my open mouth. His coppery blood floods into my mouth. I try to keep from swallowing, but he keeps his wrist against my mouth, so I can't spit out his blood. I try to pull his arm off, but he is too strong. "Give me the book, Stefan. Or I'm snapping her neck and you and I will have a new vampire running around. And we have just seen how dangerous she can be as a human. Imagine her as a vampire." I can feel the blood start to flow down my throat. Elena is crying, holding onto Stefan begging him to give Damon the grimoire. I try to keep strong for her but the memories and panic keep me from doing so.

"Let her go first," Stefan says.

Damon removes his wrist from my mouth. I cough up some blood, but I know too much has already passed into my system. I can feel the bruises from when I fell onto those rocks healing completely. "Drop it," he says.

"I am not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me," Stefan replies, staring at Damon. I can tell Stefan is seeing Elena's tears and that is why he is so adamant about saving me.

"Problem is, I no longer trust that you will give it to me," Damon replies. It has become really hard to breathe. Damon's arm has moved from against my chest and diaphragm to across my neck, choking me. Tears have filled my eyes to the brim, but I keep them from rushing out. Panic and betrayal is all I feel right now. My life has become leverage. My life is barely worth the book of some witch that has been dead for 145 years.

"You just did one of the few things that ensures that I will," Stefan says. Damon nods and Stefan replies, "Okay." Stefan holds up the grimoire. He gently drops it on the ground in between himself and Damon. Damon turns his head so his nose is on top of my head. He sniffs my hair before beginning to gently release me. As soon as I have enough room, I swing my leg behind me to give him a good hard kick. He takes a swift intake of air, releasing me completely. I immediately run over to Elena and she pulls me tightly to her. I break down as soon as I became enveloped in her arms. Stefan holds us both to his chest. I can see Damon looking at the grimoire and then looking at us. He makes eye contact with me wrapped in my sister's and his brother's arms and I give him my best glare. The power of it may be weakened slightly by the tears in my eyes and the few that have escaped and rushed down my face, but it is enough to make him immediately look away. I hope the guilt burns him. Stefan and Elena quickly drag me off, still keeping me enveloped in their arms. That is probably a good thing, or Damon may not have been standing for much longer.

Elena quickly drives us all home. I run quickly to my bathroom to wash the blood off of my face. When I see myself in the mirror, the only thing I could think when I see the blood on my chin was if Damon had gone through with killing me this would be my face all of the time. I know that I could be a very dangerous vampire. He was not lying when he implied that. I grab a towel, wet it, and then start to wipe my face. I suddenly feel a major headache. I see Stefan leaning against the door frame. Elena must be downstairs making tea.

"Is my head supposed to hurt like this?" I ask him.

"You'll be fine," he replies. "It was just a small amount of blood."

"It should pass out of my system soon, then?"

"By tomorrow."

I finish cleaning my face, then turn to face him directly. "Thank you. I know that you did it for Elena, but you saved my life, so thank you."

He nods. "I didn't do it just for Elena. You are my friend, Emilia." I nod. It feels good to be acknowledged as his friend.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Damon was right… when he said this is my fault." He then tells me the story of how it was his fault that Katherine was put in the tomb. Elena walks in with tea for me during the beginning of the story, so she hears it too. "I put my faith in my father, but Damon put his faith in me and I destroyed that. This is my fault."

He looks down, but I grab his arm, so he looks at me. "You didn't do anything wrong. Don't forget that." I wince when another shoot of pain goes through my head. Elena rushes over to me and starts to rub my back. I lean into her and she pulls me close.

"I will get you some aspirin," Stefan says. I smile in gratitude. He leaves and heads downstairs. Elena and I move over to the bed and sit down. We stay seated with her holding me for a few seconds more before she releases me. I then notice someone in the doorway.

"Anna?" I ask. Then everything goes black.

* * *

><p>Whoa, that was long. Almost 9,000 words before editing. These chapters keep getting longer and longer. I know there was no flashback, but I was a little blocked on it and I wanted to get this chapter out to you guys fast. The next flashback is sure to be a good one though. My schedule has cleared up for the most part. I should be able to update more regularly, hopefully. I have maybe one more week before thanksgiving break. So the next chapter should be around that time. I make no promises, because you know how life is.<p>

I would like to take a minute to thank all of you who have still followed and favorite this story, even though I hadn't updated in months. It always made me really happy to know that there are people still were reading this story. I would type up your names, but I am anxious to get this out and you guys know who you are.

Please review. I would love to know if anyone is still reading this and if you are, what do you think. I again apologize for mistakes.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch. 12

A/N: Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! This is again ridiculously late, but not as bad as last time. I'm going to officially stop promising a schedule for my updates because every time I do, life seems to screw it up. Sorry. But good news is we are going to be finishing with season 1 in the next couple of chapters. And that means we get to meet Elijah soon! I am just as excited as you are. The flashbacks will also be finishing soon. This particular one is very short, both the flashback and the chapter, but I was rushed to get this out. Enough of this, enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries, duh.

**Line Break**

_Alliana's plan worked, but not well enough. Elijah and Niklaus were angry with Tatia for a short while about how she had lied to them. But soon instead of fighting with Tatia, they fought each other. In fact, they both tried even harder to woo her, so that she would choose them. It made Alliana sick with jealousy. The good news was that Tatia's number of other suitors decreased. The news of her having a child out of wedlock spread through the village very quickly. Tatia was met with quite a few looks of scorn, but that did not stop a few random suitors. The majority of eligible suitors turned to others, such as Alliana. And she reveled in the attention. Rebekah also received more attention, but not as much as Alliana._

_It was the Harvest Festival. The entire village was celebrating. It was a time of merriment and people celebrated with drinks and food, dancing and flirting. Rebekah and Alliana were very excited. They got dressed in some of their finest clothes. _

_Rebekah dressed in a light blue gown that brought out the color of her eyes. Her blond hair was intricately braided and adorned with blue wildflowers. Alliana dressed in a deep orange color, the color of a perfect sunset. The fires around the festival made the dress almost appear to be in fire, making her the center of many people's attention. _

_Alliana and Rebekah danced with many people. Alliana felt the stares of lust from men and jealousy from women, the most important being Tatia's, Elijah's, and Niklaus's. Elijah and Tatia arrived together with her dark forest green dress being slightly rumpled, while Elijah's clothes were pristine and Niklaus's were even more rumpled, signifying what she had been doing before. Tatia tried to seem aloof, but her jealousy of the amount her twin was receiving. Elijah's and Niklaus's identical looks of jealousy from opposite sides of the festival were amusing. Alliana decided to taunt her twin a little more, so she went over to the pair. She could feel how many gazes followed her._

"_Hello Elijah. Is not the festival wonderful? I cannot believe how many are so…friendly at this time," Alliana said, flirting. Tatia's look of anger and Elijah's look of lust and jealousy made Alliana feel proud of herself._

"_Yes. It seems that way," Elijah replied._

"_We must join in," Alliana said._

"_Yes. Would you honor me with a dance?" Elijah said, completely ignoring Tatia's look of outrage. During the dance, Alliana could only help think that life was perfect._

**Line break**

I wake up on a hard floor with a pounding a headache and a strong sense of deja vu. I look around and find myself on a tile floor of an unknown, dingy bathroom. The lack of size, personal belongings, and bright light makes me think that I am in a motel. I try to remember what happened. The first thing that pops into my mind is Damon holding me and forcing his blood down my throat in exchange for Emily Bennett's grimoire. A feeling of rage bubble up inside me immediately. I shake myself and continue to try to remember what happened. I remember returning home and being comforted by Stefan and Elena. Then I remember a face flashing in my door. It was Jeremy's friend, Anna. I can't remember anything after that. Anna must be a vampire and she must have kidnapped me. I start to sit up and look at my surroundings more. I see dark brown hair and a tan arm. I rush over and find Bonnie passed out in the bathtub. I stumble over to the sink and wet a towel. I press it to her forehead and try to wake her up. What is she doing here? What is going on? Right as Bonnie starts to wake up, the door opens and Elena is pushed into the bathroom. She rushes to me and we hug tightly. We release and she turns to see Bonnie.

"Bonnie?" Elena whispers.

Bonnie starts to sit up with my help. "Ugh, my head," she says. She sees us. "Emilia, Elena?" She gets a sudden realization and I know she must be remembering what happened to her. "Omigod, Ben is a-"

I shush her because we are in a room next to a room with vampires. I point to my ear and whisper, "They can hear." Elena gets up and turns on the faucet of the sink.

Bonnie groans and starts to sit up more. "I was so stupid." She must be talking about not realizing that Ben is a vampire.

Elena comes back and pushes Bonnie's hair back in comfort. "He had us all fooled," she says. It is kind of true, but I hadn't really interacted with him, so there was no way for me to tell that he was a vampire.

"What's going on? Why are we here?" Bonnie asks us. Very good questions that I just asked myself.

I think about what has been going on. Then I remember that Stefan said how someone had stolen Jonathan Gilbert's journal from Mr. Saltzman's desk. Another vampire. "It must have something to do with Emily Bennett's grimoire and the tomb," I say.

"Grimoire?" Bonnie asks. She's a witch. A Bennett witch. How does she not know about grimoires? The realization hits me. She is the one needed to open the tomb. We are here as leverage.

Elena answers her. "It's her spell book. Damon says that it could be used to open the tomb." As soon as she says the name, I feel my rage burning up again. I growl softly. Elena places her hand on my arm. I try to draw comfort from her and calm down.

Bonnie looks at us, questioning. "Why didn't I know about this?"

Elena sighs. "I was trying to keep you out of this, hoping it would never come to this." I roll my eyes. That is never going to work. She is a Bennett witch. They are some of the most powerful witches known. She is going to be targeted eventually.

"Come to what?" Bonnie asks, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"They need a witch to break the spell and let the vampires out," I say.

"No way," Bonnie says. I nod in response. I try to comfort her, when the door opens and Ben enters. He looks over to us and then turns off the faucet. I crouch and prepare myself to start fighting. "You're wasting your time," Bonnie says to him. "I'm not going to help you." I keep my eyes trained on him.

He walks over to us laughing. He holds me down as I try to attack and quickly grabs Elena. His eyes never leave Bonnie's, except when he stops me. "That's why they are here." I see Elena struggling and I can't do too much without him hurting her more. "Motivation for you to behave." Why am I always leverage? I was Damon's leverage for the grimoire. I'm leverage for Bonnie to help this bastard. I'm sick of it already. But I'm pretty sure this won't be the last time. He gets close to Bonnie. "You know, you shouldn't be so desperate. You made it too easy." That is it. The next chance I get, I am shoving a stake deep into his heart. Elena groans as Ben drags her away. "She needs to talk to you." Bonnie and I get up as Ben shoves Elena out of the bathroom door, shutting it behind her. He leans against the opposite wall, staring us down.

I quickly asses my surroundings, looking for a weapon to help us. I see the faucet. I wish I could turn it on and somehow bend the water to my will and drown him or something. Or that I could suddenly call fire and burn his ass. I continue to stare him down, thinking of all the ways I could kill him. When suddenly there is a knock on the door and a shout of "I'm leaving" from Anna. Ben opens the door and pushes me out first, dragging Bonnie out next. I run over to Elena sitting on one of the two twin beds and hug her. Anna gives Ben instructions, telling him to keep us control and that compulsion will not work, so he has to use violence. He throws Bonnie to the other bed and tells us to sit there quietly and behave. He takes off his jacket and walks to a chair in front of the beds. I sit next to my twin and stare him down.

Ben turns to Bonnie. "So you are the key to this. Literally. The one who opens the door." No shit, Sherlock. He sits on the chair with his left leg on the seat and he actually seated on the back of the chair. "Tell me, how long have you been a witch?" I am so tempted to beat the crap out of him.

"Is there anything to drink here?" Elena asks.

Ben gets up and walks towards my sister. "Are you offering?"

I can't contain myself. "No. But I'm offering not to kill you after I beat the crap out of you if you just answer the question politely." He turns to me and I give him one of my best glares. He takes a small step back.

He tries to intimidate me again, but it is not working. "There's water on the night stand," he growls out reluctantly.

I grab it and hand it to my sister. She takes a small sip when Bonnie asks us, "Hey, can I have a sip?" She has a look in her eyes that I know means she has a plan, I'm guessing are of a magical variety. Good, this means I can use this. Elena hands her the glass of water. Bonnie throws it on Ben and lights it with her magic. He arm catches fire and he tries to put it out. Bonnie and Elena jump up and run to the door and try to escape. I get up and grab whatever I can find. Bonnie gets the door open and gets out, but he grabs Elena before she can make it out.

"Come back in, and shut the door," he says. Bonnie starts, but I hit him on the head with the lamp. He drops Elena.

"Run!" I shout to them. Ben recovers and flashes the door closed, before I can escape. I smirk. "Good. Now we can get to the ass-kicking." He rushes to me. I give him another swing of the lamp. It hits him, but he then grabs it and yanks it from my grasp. I notice the glass from the lightbulb that broke in the struggle. I grab a large shard quickly. When he rushes at me, I cut his hand and kick at his stomach pushing him back. He looks down at his hand in surprise. This gives me enough time to grab a piece of wood from the cheap wooden picture frame I broke earlier. Then the door bursts open and the room is flooded with sunlight. Ben falls to the ground burning. I see Stefan in the doorway and rush out. I see Elena and Bonnie and pull them into a hug. I hear Stefan threaten Ben and we leave.

**Line Break**

We go to Gram's house. Her house is amazing. I have always loved the history and magic that has always seemed to be a part of this place. I wander around as everyone reunites. I peruse all of Gram's things. Now that my suspicions of her being a witch are verified, everything in her house has a new meaning. Elena calls me over o the kitchen to discuss the plan of action.

"So what do we do now?" Elena asks.

"For now, you need to stay here," Stefan says. Not gonna happen.

"A prisoner in my own home?" Grams says in surprise and with sass. "I don't think so." You go Grams.

"I can't protect you if you leave this house," Stefan says. Really, Stefan? You are in a house with two witches and me and you think we need protection.

"We'll protect ourselves," Grams replies. I now remember why Grams is awesome.

"We need to let him have Katherine back," Elena says.

I turn to her in surprise. "Excuse me," I say with some spite and anger. She cannot be serious.

"He is not going to stop until he gets her," she replies.

"He'll stop if I kill him," I respond. "Sorry, Stefan."

"If we help him, maybe that ends it," Elena says. She is being delusional right now. She cannot seriously believe that would happen. Over my dead body it is.

"No! He doesn't deserve to get what he wants," Bonnie says. You got that right.

"Elena, did you forget he tried to kill me," I say. "If you think for a second that I am going to _help_ that jackass, you are insane and obviously don't know a single thing about me."

"What other choice do we have?" Elena says. I scoff and roll my eyes. I am so done with this. I cannot believe that she is my twin right now. I can think of many different options. Killing him for one. Incapacitating him with magic. Burning the spell. Having Stefan drive him out of town. There are many options.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we try to do to stay out of it," Grams says. She sighs. "I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. The this will all be over." This is not seriously happening right now.

"We still have to get Damon to agree," Stefan says.

"He already agreed once," Elena says.

"Yeah, and then we double crossed him. So now he's angry," Stefan says. And he tried to turn me, so I'm pissed off. Why is everyone now so willing to help him despite what he has done? Are they just forgetting what he has done to try to open this tomb? He killed Tanner, killed Zack Salvatore, turned Vicki, attacked Bonnie, abused Caroline, and tried to turn me. Why is no one else remembering all of this?

"He's hurt. There's a difference," Elena says.

"You cannot seriously be defending him right now," I say.

Elena turns to me. "We have to do this. I have to do this." She pleads with me with her eyes. She gives me a slight puppy dog/ begging eyes. Damn my inability to say no to my family. I nod to her.

"I know what I have to do," she says.

"He needs to leave town," I say. Everyone turns to me. "When he gets Katherine, they need to leave town. If he stays here, I will kill him for what he has done." Elena and Stefan nod to me, accepting my terms. They both go to prepare and I turn to face the Bennett women. "What do you need to do this?"

Grams sends Bonnie off to collect a few things and I see her study the grimoire. I think about what Grams and Bonnie are about to do. They have to remove the open a tomb sealed by a strong ancestor. That alone is going to be difficult. There has to be more to this then just opening a door, because then anyone can do it. I turn to Grams and ask her. "There's more to this than just opening a door. This spell was bound by a crystal that is now destroyed and it was done 145 years ago." The same time as the comet, I realize. "This is going to be extremely difficult, isn't it?"

"You are right. There is also a seal that keeps the vampires from escaping. A human can go in and out, but a vampire can only go in, not back out unless the seal is dropped." Grams turns to me and smiles sadly. "You always have been a smart girl, Emilia."

I analyze the look on her face and her tone of voice, comforting but sad at the same time, as if she is saying goodbye. I talk as I realize these things, "This is going to be dangerous for you, isn't it? You may be powerful, but Emily was strong too and she had the power of the comet. You two are not strong enough for this. I remember reading that if a witch uses too much of her power, she will die." I end sadly.

Grams grabs my arms and looks sadly into my eyes. "We will be fine. We are strong enough to open that tomb and drop the seal if needed. The only potential problem we will have is if we need to raise that seal again."

I nod. "Then we make Damon go in alone and keep Stefan out of the tomb. Keep Damon trapped and Stefan safe."

She nods at me. "You need to stay by me and Bonnie during the spell."

"Why?"

She has weirdly suspicious look on her face for a second but then it disappears. "I need you to make sure nothing happens to me and Bonnie during the spell." I have a feeling that that is not the whole truth, but I let it go for now. "You are such a special girl, Emilia Grace. Never forget that you have more power than you think." She says cupping my face with her hands. I am about to ask her what she means but Bonnie comes in and we continue to prepare.

**Line Break**

We meet up with Stefan who now has a lot of firepower, literally. He has gasoline and a lot of torches. He says it is what he needs to destroy the other vampires. But he is not going to be the one to destroy them. Damon and Elena join us there. I'm surprised to see her in one piece.

"Brother, witches…" I wait for Damon to greet me in some snarky way. "you." Wow, impressive. I roll my eyes at him.

"Everything okay?" Stefan asks.

"I just want to get this over with," Elena replies, walking over to us.

"Are we ready?" Elena asks.

I nod while Bonnie says, "I guess so." We go into the tomb and start to set up. We set up torches on the perimeter of the circular hole in the tomb's rock.

Grams lights one and starts to light the others. "Air, Earth, Fire," she says as she lights each one.

"Water," Bonnie says as she pulls out a water bottle filled with water.

"That's it, just water from the tap," Elena says. I give her a confused look.

Grams spreads it inside the circle. "As opposed to what?"

"I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something," Elena says. Grams just gives a secretive smile and a nod to me.

"Water is mystical in its own right. It is a basic part of nature and that is all that it needs to be to be mystical.

I look over to see Damon pull out a blood bag. "What is that for?" Stefan asks.

"Gotta have something to get her going," Damon replies. "Unless your girl's offering a vein to tap." I give him a glare from across the circle. "Oh, calm down, Medusa. I was joking." I don't let up, so Damon looks away. "Admit it-" Damon says to Stefan. "You can't wait to get rid of me." He chuckles.

"I can't wait to get rid of you," Stefan says.

"We're ready," Bonnie says. Bonnie and Grams stand and hold hands, and start chanting in what sounds like Latin, but isn't. I can feel the magic around me. A conversation happens on the other side of the circle but I ignore it. After a few minutes, the flames increase and the magical feeling increases for a few seconds. Suddenly the door opens.

"It worked!" Bonnie exclaims.

"Of course it worked," Grams replies.

"We have some fires to build," Damon says, turning back from facing the tomb.

"I'm going to get the gasoline, I'll be right back," Stefan says. He goes and rushes off.

"Are you ready?' Damon asks Elena.

"What?" Elena replies.

"You think I'm going to go in there by myself, so you can seal me in?" Damon says, pulling Elena to him.

"Don't bring her in there," Grams says. "I'll bring the walls down."

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't." You think I trust you?"

"As much as I trust you."

"Enough! Both of you," Elena exclaims. She turns to Grams. "Look, he needs leverage. He needs to know that you're not going to shut the door when he gets inside." She turns to Damon. "I get it. I'll go.

Damon bows and holds his hand out to grab a torch, "May I?" We don't say anything, so he grabs one anyways. They then walk into the tomb. I know she is going to be okay, but I can't help but worry.

A few minutes later, Anna rushes down the stairs into the tomb.

"Hey, you're not going in there," Bonnie says.

"You think you can stop me?" Anna replies.

"Bonnie," Grams calls to her. Anna comes in and grabs an extra flashlight. She then rushes in the tomb.

Bonnie turns to face her grandmother. "Why did you let her go in?"

"Because she isn't coming back out," I reply.

"None of them are," Grams says.

A few minutes after Anna rushes in, Stefan comes back. "Where's Elena?" He asks.

"Damon took her inside," I say.

"What?" Stefan says. He is about to rush in but I grab him before he can.

"If you go in there, you won't come out," I say.

He turns to face Grams. "What did you do?"

"Opening the door didn't remove the seal, it just opened the door," Grams says.

"What's the seal?" Stefan asks.

"Some seals keep vampires from entering, this one keeps them from coming back out," I say, walking back to the circle.

"Elena's human, she can leave. Anna and Katherine can't." He looks down. "Damon can't." He turns back to Grams. "You weren't planning on breaking the spell, were you?"

"I told you. I will protect my own," Grams replies, holding onto both Bonnie and I.

"Elena can get out. That is all that matters," I say. We stand there for another minute before a scream rips through. Elena's scream.

Stefan calls out for her and rushes in. Bonnie and I both chase after him, but are stopped by Grams. "You can't just leave him in there, Grams!"

"He made his choice," she replies.

"No," Bonnie says. "Here." She goes over and picks up the grimoire. "Just tell me what to do. I'll do it!"

"We are not strong enough," Grams says. This is exactly what I was worried about. "Even if we were able to bring the seal down, there's no guarantee we can get it back up again."

"You said it yourself. Many things can fuel a witch's power. Help me! Or I'll do it alone." No. I plead with Grams in my mind. She looks over to me and I can see her contemplating something in her mind. She nods and they both look over at the grimoire. Elena and Stefan soon rush out. Well, Elena rushes out. Stefan remains trapped.

"Elena, Stefan…," Bonnie says.

"He's right behind me," Elena replies. We look back at the opening of the tomb and see Stefan trapped there. "Stefan, what are you doing?"

"It's going to be okay. We'll fix it," I say.

"What is it?" she asks.

"I can't," Stefan says.

"Can't?" Elena asks. "Can't what?"

"The spell's still up, we can't get them out. Yet," Bonnie says.

"You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" Elena asks. Stefan looks down avoiding answering. "Oh my god."

"I heard you scream," he replies. It would be sweet if I wasn't so worried.

"We can't leave him in there," she says. I roll my eyes at that. "We promised him, both of us."

"I know," he replies.

"Even if we are able to break down the seal, we won't be able to hold it down for long," Grams says. Stefan nods and rushes back into the tomb.

Bonnie and Grams go back to holding their hands and chanting. I feel the magic again. I stand and watch while Elena paces around the circle. The fires increase again and I feel the magic stronger now.

"I think it's working," Elena says. I look up to see Anna hobbling out with a woman who looks very similar to her. I'm guessing her mother.

"I just wanted my mother back," Anna says. "Jeremy's fine. He's outside. We won't touch him." Why is Jeremy involved in this? Elena gives me an 'I'll explain later' look. The fires start to go out and I know they are tiring. My worry increases.

Bonnie starts to sway and groan. Grams grabs her hands. "Bonnie, keep going!" The fires go out again. Grams turns to Elena. "You better hurry."

Elena shouts inside the tomb, "Stefan, they can't hold it much longer." She turns back to face us. When Bonnie starts to go really limp with her eyes, the fires go out completely. Elena rushes back in the tomb and I rush over to Bonnie and Grams. I help Bonnie back to standing. I grab their hands and hold the together. They start to continue chanting. I keep my hands on theirs. I can now feel the magic so powerfully, almost as if it is coming from inside me.

Bonnie starts to stop again saying, "I can't."

I encourage her more. "You can do this, Bonnie. You are strong enough and powerful enough to do this. Take some strength from me. You can do this." Their chanting becomes louder and stronger. The feeling of magic is almost overwhelming, but I feel strong and powerful. As soon as Damon, Stefan, and Elena rush out, the door shuts and the fires go out. I pull Bonnie into a hug. "You did it, Bonnie. You did it."

**Line break**

I help Bonnie and Grams back to Grams's house. They look extremely tired, Grams more so than Bonnie. Grams stumbles to the couch. "Here, let me help you," Bonnie says. I start to make tea for comfort.

"Óh, I'm fine," she replies. "You don't need to coddle me, baby." She smiles at her.

"It was a big spell, Grams," Bonnie replies. "I could tell it took a lot out of you."

"I'll be fine," Grams replies. I look back at them both. It seems that Bonnie and I are both worried about Grams. Bonnie comes back over and we sit in silence, too tired to make conversation. I hand her a cup of hot water and some tea when it is ready. She smiles in thanks. I make another cup and I bring it to Grams. She looks very tired on the couch. She smiles gently when I bring over the tea, but I worry because her smile is not as strong. I set down my own cup and gently hand hers over.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I will be," She says. I stare at her sadly. I know she is lying to me. She sees that look on my face. "You helped so much in there."

I look at her in surprise and confusion. "What did I do? I just stood there."

"You did more than you think. You made us stronger."

I smile at her. "How did I do that?"

She takes a sip of the tea and set it down. She slowly turns to me. She takes my hands and forces me to look in her eyes. "You are very special, Emilia Grace. Never forget that. You are your own person. So very unique. You are smart and powerful and beautiful. You are a remarkable girl. Promise me that you will never forget that. Promise me."

"I promise." I am very confused as to what is going on and why she is saying these things. But she looks too tired for questions. I give her hand a quick squeeze. I then take my cup and walk back to Bonnie in the kitchen. I start to cook something, because we are all hungry and could use some energy in the form of food, when I hear Bonnie crying from the living room. I rush over to Bonnie who is screaming and crying for Grams to wake up. I rush over to Grams's side to feel her pulse, which is not there. I realize that she died a few minutes ago. I hold Bonnie close as we start to cry. Her last words to me on repeat.

**Line Break**

A/N: Whoo! This was a doozy. Little shorter at 5,000 words. I would like to thank the people who wrote the 66 reviews, the 132 people who have favorited this, the 174 people who follow this, and all 22,145 people who have viewed this story. You guys are so amazing. If I continue to be late with these updates, feel free to PM me and remind me to write. You guys are the reason why I keep writing this.

I would love to hear your thoughts, so please review.


	13. Chapter 13

Ch. 13

A/N: I am so sorry this is late. I am soon just going to stop apologizing, because you are probably just expecting it by now. But I do apologize both for lateness of this chapter and all the mistakes that are probably in this. I have some time off, so I plan on writing a lot. Maybe the next few chapters, so updates will be a little more regular. My birthday was this past Sunday, March 29th, so that means I have been writing this for over a year, which is awful because this is only the 13th chapter. I promise I will try to be better. There are only two more flashbacks after this chapter and two more chapters to finish up season 1, which means we are getting close to meeting Elijah. More notes are at the end. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p><em>The feast was a great success in Alliana's eyes. Elijah and Niklaus were practically fighting for her attention and she loved it. She also enjoyed how the fighting over her lead to less attention given to Tatia. It was time for the full moon and Alliana was excited for the chance to be the center of more attention. She hoped that their time in the caves would lead to more chances to be the better sister. Alliana sat with Rebekah and Kol in the Mikaelson clan section of the cave. She preferred it to spending time with Tatia and their aunt. She was there when Elijah came over to her and asked to speak with her in private.<em>

_Alliana and Elijah walked over to a more secluded part of the caves. She was excited for what this conversation could be about. Elijah had been more attentive to her since the feast and Alliana felt it was because of his feelings for her. As they were walking, she noticed a flash of Tatia's curls. Tatia had hidden quickly around the corner when she heard the approach of Elijah and Alliana, but it was not fast enough to escape the notice of Alliana, who felt even more excited about the conversation now that it was in front of her twin sister._

"_What is it you wish to speak about, Elijah?" Alliana asked, getting straight to the point. They stopped walking. _

_Elijah turned to face Alliana, but he would not look in her eyes. He kept his face down and pensive. "We have been friends for many years, is that not correct?" Elijah asked._

_Alliana smiled. "Yes, we have been close friends ever since I arrived in this village many seasons past."_

"_And we have always enjoyed each other's company, have we not?" Elijah asked, slightly stumbling over his words._

"_But of course," Alliana replies. "What has brought this conversation along?"_

"_It has come to my attention that our relationship may have changed over the years that we have known each other."_

"_Well, yes it has."_

"_And with these changes, I have discovered new feelings…"_

"_Elijah, please make your point already." Alliana could feel the tension in the cave building up. She quickly glanced in Tatia's direction._

"_Alliana…I love you," Elijah finally said. _

_Alliana smiled hugely, knowing that Elijah had feelings for her and knowing Tatia heard the declaration. "Elijah, that is amazing to hear, because I love you too." She did not feel the same feelings as she claimed. While she did have strong feelings for Elijah, her heart would always belong to Niklaus. She just enjoyed having the attention of both._

_As they embraced, Alliana could feel Tatia's anger. She smiled knowing the cause of it was Tatia' loss of Elijah. She felt it was time to have a little chat with her sister. "Elijah, dear, all this excitement has left me feeling thirsty. Can you please get me some water?" She asked sweetly._

"_Of course," he replied. He nodded to her and then left._

_As soon as he was out of earshot, Alliana called for Tatia, "You can come out now, dear sister. I know you heard everything."_

_Tatia walked out of her hiding spot. Her eyes were ablaze with fury and jealousy. "What do you think you are doing, dear sister," she said, emphasizing he last two words._

"_Oh, just stealing the two men you have been playing for the past few seasons."_

"_Is that not what you are doing? Playing them. Making them believe that you love them when really you are just in it for the fun?"_

"_Oh no, sister. I do have feelings for them. That type of playing is the game of a manipulative whore. Oh, I must apologize. You played that game." Alliana's jealousy of Tatia's experience with Niklaus made her lash out at her sister. The twins started to circle each other all while glaring._

"_Oh, are you jealous of my experience?" Alliana glared harder as they continued to slowly circle. "I know you have never done anything of the sort. Because innocent, little Alliana would never be caught dead holding hands with a boy, let alone experiencing the wonder of a man."_

"_You know nothing of my experience."_

"_Oh, really? Does that mean we can share? I have always felt that we were close enough to share these details." Tatia smirked as she saw how angry Alliana was becoming from this topic. "Now, let's talk about Elijah and Niklaus. Now, Elijah is much broader than Niklaus in many ways, his shoulders, his arms, his manhood. But Niklaus almost has more experience. While he is not a wide as Elijah, he knows how to use his other features to make up for it…"_

_Alliana could feel the rage burning up inside of her, knowing that her sister had seen and done things that were supposed to be only for her. She barely managed to get out a few more words through her gritted teeth. "I may not have the knowledge of them that you have in that area." She smiled knowing these next sentences would hit the mark and ignite Tatia's short temper. "But I know something much better. They have real feelings for me. In fact, I believe that they soon will be asking to court me. I could be their wife, and you will be nothing more than that whore they used to screw around."_

_Tatia screamed with rage, so loud it reverberated off the cave walls. She then attacked Alliana; pulling at her hair and scratching her face. The force of the attack knocked the twins to the ground. Alliana tried to fight back. She kicked Tatia and tried to hit her in return, but Tatia's fury made her slightly stronger. The fight ended quickly when Tatia was pulled off of Alliana, screaming and kicking by Finn and Kol. Elijah picked up Alliana from the ground. Tatia had a few scratches across her body and many bruises from Alliana's flying limbs. But Alliana had quite a few deep scratches on her body, one on her face. _

_As soon as she felt that she was in Elijah's arms, Alliana quickly started to cry. Elijah looked at her in concern. "What happened here?" Elijah questioned._

_Alliana quickly answered, "Tatia heard that we declared our feelings to each other. And when you left, she started accusing me of stealing you away from her. I told her that I would never do that, because we are sisters," she lied, looking at Tatia. She continued, "Tatia would not believe me, and I kept denying that I would do such a thing and then she just attacked me in a fit of jealous rage." Alliana started to cry again._

_Tatia tried to refuse and explain her side of the story, but Elijah believed Alliana. He quickly turned to Tatia, and softly said, "I never want to see you again. If I find you near me or Alliana ever again, I will not be so calm." And with that the Mikaelsons and Alliana left Tatia standing alone. But just before Tatia was out of sight, Alliana turned around and gave her a big smile, with tears all but forgotten._

_When they got back to the Mikaelson area, they saw the worried faces of Rebekah and Esther. Mikael just looked pissed off. When they asked what was wrong, they were shocked to find that Niklaus and Henrik had disappeared. _

_Rebekah turned to Alliana and whispered, "They went off to see the men change into wolves. Henrik has been asking to see that for the longest time and now Niklaus has taken him." Alliana could feel worry for their safety rise up inside of her. _

_The night was spent with Alliana in Elijah's arms, worrying for the man she loved. The morning was filled with blood, tears, and cries of Henrik's name._

_Everyone knew that the village would never be the same._

* * *

><p>Grams' funeral was a few days later. It was a touching, but somber event. So many people came to honor Sheila Bennett; her students, the Bennett family members, and many people from Mystic Falls, even though they thought she was crazy. But Grams was respected and loved by so many, and I am sure she would have been happy to see everyone. After the funeral, I went straight home. Elena found me in my room, searching for my suitcase.<p>

"What are you doing," Elena asks.

I turn to her for a second, but then went back to my small suitcase. "I'm packing. Bonnie invited me to join her when she leaves to visit her family." I start packing shirts, planning comfortable outfits in my mind. I can't bother to try to look nice in the next few days.

"But why?" Elena asks. She walks over to me. "I mean…I know you were close to Grams but why are you leaving. We need you here."

I stop and turn to face her, and my frustration rises up. This is her fault. "You don't get it Elena." I turn back to my packing to try to distract myself. I can't deal with the mess of my emotions. "I knew something like this would happen. I told them it was too dangerous. They were not strong enough to handle that spell." I stop. "But you don't care about that, do you?" I can feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I am too frustrated to even care. "You traded Grams' life for a vampire's." I turn to her, "You traded the life of the a wonderful, loving, powerful woman who treated us like family for the life of a selfish female vampire who tricked your boyfriend and his brother into loving her, so that she could turn them and they could be in an eternal threesome. Grams' loved us as if we were her own granddaughters. She has known us our entire lives and she cared for us after our parents died." I can feel the tears rushing down my face, but I no longer care, because of how angry I am. "She is dead, because you wanted to give a vampire who almost killed me the supposed love of his life. There were other options Elena, but you chose this one and now Grams is gone because of you! _You_ wanted to give Katherine to Damon and now Grams is dead!" I turn back to my packing. I throw the last bit of my clothes into my suitcase and zip it quickly. "So I'm leaving, because I can't bother to deal with you and your drama right now."

I see the tears running down Elena's face and a pang of guilt run through me. I know it is not entirely Elena's fault, but I need someone to blame other than myself. I could have tried harder to stop them or kept an eye on Grams to make sure she was okay. I know part of it is nobody's fault, but right now I can't deal with that. I run to my bathroom and grab my packed toiletries. As I leave I grab my phone, its charger, my wallet, and my suitcase. I am about to leave when I turn back and see Elena sitting on my bed. "Jenna already knows I'm leaving, so you just have to tell Jeremy. I will see you in a few days." Elena just silently nods. I hear a knock on the door, so with that I leave.

* * *

><p>Hanging out with the Bennett family is an experience. It's a pretty big family and now I can assume most of them are witches. There are also many people who can be described as eccentric. First there are Gram's siblings, Sarah and Franklin. Franklin died a few years ago from a stroke. Sarah is the stereotypical grandma; the one that bakes cookies and knits sweaters. She has always been very domestic, which was a change from Grams, who was always a little more eccentric than domestic. Sarah has two children, Pauline and Harold. Harold has been traveling the world for years, so he wasn't able to come. Pauline is a big shot attorney. She didn't want to be a housewife, so she became the exact opposite. Her husband, Jacob is an author and the stay-at-home-dad. They are both very nice, but Jacob is a little more welcoming. They have 3 kids, Charlie who is 14, Kayla who is 12 and the youngest, Lilly who is 5. They are a little rambunctious, but sweet. I really like hanging out with Lilly, because she is still so innocent and the cutest thing. Then there is Bonnie's aunt, Grace. Grace can be a little crazy. She is a control freak and an anxious person. She can drive Bonnie a little nuts. She and her much calmer husband, Nick, have 4 children. Mary is 20 and a business major in college. Alex is 16 and a little bit of a nerd, so we often chat about school. Danielle is 12 and a complete girly girl. She adores Caroline and they always go shopping when they visit. Then there is Tommy who is 7. He loves pirates and cars and enjoys following Charlie. There are a really close family and I am so glad to be considered part of the family.<p>

I spent a lot of time with everyone in the next week. I talked a lot with Jacob about writing; I even got a few tips for Elena, even though I was still mad at her. I played games with Charlie and Tommy. I talked with Mary and Alex about college. I baked a lot with Sarah. I let Kayla and Danielle give me makeovers. And I kept Bonnie from going completely insane from her aunt. It was so nice to spend so much time doing completely normal things because it kept my mind off of Grams' and my parents' deaths. I spoke with Caroline every day and she kept me up with the social scene in Mystic Falls. Valerie and Erica, my school friends, sent me my homework. I can always count on them to keep me up with work and I love them more for that.

I got a few calls from Elena and Stefan, but I just let them go to voicemail. I could not handle the super natural drama of Mystic Falls. I did not want to deal with that until I felt I had to. Elena did call me with information about our birthmother, Isobel. She told me that Isobel was a cheerleader in high school, went to Duke, and was married to Alaric. But she was turned by Damon. I almost went back just to kick Damon's ass, but didn't, because I don't want to deal with Elena quite yet. She also tells me that the tomb vampires were released. That made me more determined to stay with the Bennett family. It meant that Grams died for nothing. But at the same time, I had to go back. I had to protect my family. As mad as I am with Elena, she is still my twin sister.

* * *

><p>It's pouring rain when I get back to my house. There is a huge storm going on, which I know means trouble. If 25 vampires were recently let out of tomb that they were stuck in for 145 years and it was a rainy day without a single beam of sunlight for hours, there was going to be chaos and deaths. This is going to be loads of fun…<p>

I walk into my house and immediately see Damon and Elena. Whoopee. "Is Stefan here?" I hear Damon ask as I walk in. Oh, what is going on here?

"No," I hear Elena reply.

"No, but I am here," I say. The both turn to me. I'm wondering why they didn't notice me enter. What is with them? And, eww. It's Damon. That's just weird and gross. But I get back to the problem at hand. "Something wrong?"

Elena runs over and gives me a quick hug. I squeeze her quickly, because I have missed her. But I let her go, so we can focus on the situation. "What has happened?"

Damon nods at me. "Stefan went out the woods and didn't come back. I can't get him on his phone."

"Someone doesn't want to answer _your_ call?" I say extremely sarcastically. "Shocker." Damon just rolls his eyes. Elena on the other hand immediately reached for her phone and started to call Stefan. Damon turns to Elena "I figured he was here with you."

"It's going straight to voicemail," Elena says. I can see her getting worried and that makes me a little bit more anxious and focused on the problem.

"Well, where could he be?" I ask.

Damon's face becomes darker. "You are not going to like what I am thinking."

* * *

><p>Damon was right. I did not like his plans. Note to self: Damon's plans are usually stupid. Don't follow them.<p>

I am standing outside in a car in the pouring rain, in the middle of a forest with Elena and no protection as Damon walks up to a house filled with hungry, old vampires to try to get Stefan back. I repeat; this plan is stupid and is not going to work. I am proven correct when Damon runs back, soaking wet. Elena immediately runs out of the car with an umbrella to meet him. I roll my eyes but join them bringing another umbrella.

"They have him. I can't get in," I hear Damon say as I walk over. He and Elena are standing under Elena's umbrella. He is completely soaked. Haha. And he is wearing a leather jacket which cannot be comfortable wet.

"Why not?" Elena asks. I knew this plan wasn't going to work.

"Because the woman who owns the house is compelled to not let me in," Damon says. Of course. I roll my eyes.

"I can get in," Elena says.

Damon and I immediately both turn to Elena. "You're not going in," we both say. We turn to each other in surprise. Ew, I just said the same thing as Damon. What is happening to me? At least he is protecting Elena instead of trying to kill someone.

Elena tries to rush past us. "I'm going," she says. Does the power of love make people completely suicidal? Damon and I both hold Elena back.

I grab Elena by the shoulders and make her look in my eyes. "None of us hold a chance of surviving long enough in that house to even make it to seeing Stefan, let alone saving him. Least of all you, Elena," I say. "You are not going in there."

Elena stops and faces Damon and me. "Why are they doing this? What do they want with him?"

I turn to Damon. Those are good questions. He sighs before answering. "Revenge. They want revenge."

"What did you do while I was gone?" I ask, mostly to myself. They just sort of ignore me. Thanks guys.

"We gotta do something," Elena says.

"I know," Damon says as he looks back to the house. He turn back to face Elena and grabs her face in his hands. "Elena, I know." I just now notice that they are standing really close to each other. Um, what? His hands drop as he says, "But I don't know how to get him out."

A plan instantly forms in my mind. "I do," I say. They turn to me. "We are just going to need some backup."

* * *

><p>We are at the school. I figured we could use some extra weapons and Alaric's help could not hurt. We are waiting in the classroom when Damon suddenly walks out. Alaric must be here. I can hear their conversation.<p>

"Well, don't you look…alive," I hear Damon's snarky voice say. I roll my eyes. Wait, what? Again, what happened while I was not here? Ugh, the drama of Mystic Falls.

"You can't hurt me," Alaric says.

"Oh, I can hurt you alright," Damon says. And I have had enough.

"Damon, stop threatening him. We here to ask for his help," I call out. I walk over and see they are both still. "Hi, Rick." I say. He gives me a weird look. "You did say we could call you that on the first day. Or not. That was a little weird… Anyways, we need your help."

We walk into the classroom and Mr. Saltzman sits down at his desk. Damon sits at the back of the classroom by the windows. I can imagine that is exactly where he would sit if he was some teenager in high school. Now that's a weird thought. I stand behind Elena with my arms crossed while she explains everything almost like a presentation. "Stefan's in the house. Damon's a vampire. He can't get in. We need you. I would go, but-"

"Your life is valuable," Damon interrupts. I roll my eyes. "Yours," I'm guessing he is referring to Alaric. "On the other hand."

I jump in at this point. "That's enough from you, Damon." He rolls his eyes at me. Whatever. I turn back to Alaric. "Don't listen to him." I look at Damon over my shoulder. "He is just mad that a seventeen-year-old girl came up with a better plan to save his brother." I turn back to Alaric. "Speaking of. The plan is that you are going to go into the house, try to get the owner to let Damon in. Then you two will try to kill as many of the tomb vampires as possible. Try to distract them while I get Stefan. I will be your backup when it comes to killing a few stray vampires, but my main focus is getting Stefan. Your will be killing as many vampires as possible. We don't need any more deaths in this town. Unfortunately, someone has to watch over Elena to make sure she doesn't leave the car and go all kamikaze." I finish looking at Elena pointedly. I turn back to Alaric. "I suggest bringing a lot of weapons and different kinds. I can give you a few of mine if needed." I look down and notice his ring. "And definitely wear that. Where did you get it?" I know this ring. It's Jonathan Gilbert's ring. He wrote about it in one of his journals. It protects the wearer from any form of death by supernatural causes.

"My wife, Isobel gave it to me," Alaric says. "Why do I need it? What about it?"

"Well, the Isobel part just brings up more questions that I don't believe we have the time for," I say. Then I remember earlier. "Damon, did you kill him?"

"Let me recap. He attacked me. I defended myself. He died. Then according to Stefan, your ring brought me back to life. Am I leaving anything out?"

"Yeah. The part where I try and kill you again," Alaric replies as he stands. "Only this time, I don't miss."

He starts to walk to Damon, but I step in. "Not the right time or place for this. You can duke it out later Right now, we need you two to work together to save Stefan."

"I'm sorry, Emilia. But it is not my problem," Alaric replies. He did not just say that. That is one of the worst excuses. I get that this s dangerous, but he can't be killed form this, so why should that matter. I can feel the frustration building up in me.

"That's a shame, because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife," Damon says as he stands.

"You're lying," Alaric replies.

"Am I?" Damon asks. He walks over to stand next to me. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" Alaric is silent, so Damon continues, "Coward." He starts to walk away. "C'mon, Elena and Ems." When did he get the right to call me that? Elena immediately follows Damon, but I hang around for an extra second to see Alaric fiddle with his ring.

We are just about to leave when we hear Alaric call, "Wait!" We turn around and Alaric takes a deep breath before he says, "I'll go."

Let's do this.

* * *

><p>We stand around Alaric's desk as he pulls out some of his weapons. I stand in between Damon and Alaric to make they won't start fighting again. Elena is on the other side of Damon. I see some stakes, a few knives, and some tranquilizer darts. Not a bad selection. I'm sure this is not all he has, which is good. His stakes are a bit fancier than mine, but I have more different types of stakes. And that reminds me that we need to stop by the house so I could pick up my weapons.<p>

"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night," Damon says as he examines the weapons.

"I have you to thank for that," Alaric replies. Right the whole vampire wife disappearance thing. That did not make this situation awkward.

"What are these?" Elena asks, pointing to the tranquilizer darts.

Alaric sees and explains, "Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain."

"Just get me in. I will get Stefan out," Damon says, still looking at the weapons.

I roll my eyes. "That's only the beginning of the plan. You can't take all of them yourself," I say.

"Well, I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully," Damon replies.

"Hopefully is the operative word in that sentence," I reply dryly. I see Elena smile at that and hear Alaric softly chuckle. I then see Elena grab one of the darts.

"Whoa, what do you think you are doing?" I ask her.

"I'm coming with you," she replies.

"No. no. no. no. No way," Damon says. I have to agree with him on that.

"You need me. I'll get in. You could distract them and I'll get Stefan out," Elena says.

"Nope. That's my job," I say.

"You are not going in there. You will get yourself killed," Damon says.

"I'm going," Elena says.

Damon ignores her and turns to Alaric. "So when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way."

"Damon, this is not the time to be the Lone Ranger," I say. "Elena, you are driving the car. It is the safest place for you. You are not going in the house."

"You can't stop me. It's Stefan we are talking about here. You don't understand," Elena says to me and to Damon I see. I roll my eyes.

I may not have experienced the deep love that Elena and Stefan apparently share, but that does not mean I have not done stupid things in the name of what I thought was love. I was about to start ranting to her about when Damon answers first, "Oh, I understand. I understand. He's the reason you live. His love lifts you up where you belong. I get it."

I just roll my eyes again. "Focus, Damon! Can you not joke around for 2 seconds? I am here to save the life of your brother. The only person who is keeping me from killing you, right now. There are a bunch of weapons in front of me and you know I could do it. I also have motive, you threatened to turn me into a vampire but you turned my birth mom. Your selfish goal of opening the tomb, lead to the release of 27 vampires who are now holding your brother hostage. The same goal also led to the death of a woman who I considered family, so I am not in the mood for your jokes. What I need from you right now, I to focus on saving your brother, who would get pissed at me if I killed you, so don't give me any more reason to." He looks down, so I turn to Elena. "You are not going. I can't protect you. I don't know how many vampires are in there." I snap my fingers. "That is how long it takes for you to get your neck snapped. Now I will last longer because I have training. You have none, so you are dead instantly. This plan needs to work and it needs to happen fast. We cannot be worried about your safety. Or this will be a bloodbath none of us walk away from." Elena looks down and I can see my words have made some impact. I can only hope that it is enough. I am monologuing so much today. What is with my long, convoluted speeches?

Damon softly says, "We get it. We do." I can feel him thinking about Katherine, but this is not the time for that.

Alaric suddenly speaks up, "If we are going to go, we should go now."

I nod, "We just have to make one quick stop at our house, so I can get some more weapons." Damon and Alaric nod. Elena remains silent. "Let's do this."

* * *

><p>The plan was going well from what I could see. I was stuck hiding in the woods. I needed to see that the vampires were sufficiently distracted, so I could make my move, but I couldn't be close enough for the vampires to sense me. Alaric had been let into the house and now Damon was in too. I just wish he did not have to kill that woman. I know something is going to go wrong as soon as Alaric comes out to hide the body. Damon is going to get himself killed. I help Alaric drag the body further into the woods. We then run back to the car. Alaric goes for weapons. I just want to check up on Elena and tell her what is going on. When we get there, we find an open bag in an empty car.<p>

"Damn it, Elena," I hear Alaric say. My thoughts exactly.

"Go help Damon. I've got the lovebirds," I tell. He nods, grabs the bag of weapons, and runs off. I run off a second later. I run to the front of the house, where the entrance to the cellar is. I scouted the perimeter of this place when I was hiding in the woods earlier. I hear the crash of glass breaking as soon as I enter the cellar. Elena could not have gone far, then. I run further to find her peeking down a hallway. There must be a guard there, because there has not been one up to this point. I approach her slowly. There is no way to do this and not scare her, because her body is on alert, running on adrenaline. I give up and just reach gently for her hand. She jumps away, but I pull her into me and cover her mouth with my other hand. She notices it me and she relaxes slightly. I motion for her to be silent and she nods. I question her with my eyes, almost as if I were saying, 'What the hell do you think you are doing here?' She looks at me apologetically and gives me a look that says, 'It's Stefan. I have to do something.' I roll my eyes and motion for her to get behind me.

The light that illuminates the guard flickers. I think he notices me, which makes him stand up from his seat in the corner. I pull one of my longer, heavier stakes, meant for launching, from my coat and aim straight for his heart. He stalks closer and I throw. Bullseye, and he is down. As soon as this vampire hits the floor, another one appears by him. Elena peeks around me and I grab another stake. I am about to attack him, when he turns around and I see that it is Damon.

He looks over my shoulder and sees Elena. He gives me a look that says, 'Really?' I shrug in response. He turns to Elena, and asks her, "Are you insane?" I roll my eyes and keep walking. I step over that vampire's dead body and grab the stake. I creep further and notice the door. He had to have been guarding something, hopefully, it's Stefan. I open the door and see two vampires. One sitting in a chair and one very familiar one hanging from ropes attached to the ceiling. The one sitting in a chair looks tied up, so I let Elena in. Damon and I follow.

Stefan looks up to see Elena walking toward him. "Elena?" he asks. She walks over and immediately starts looking over his wounds. "You shouldn't be here," Stefan says. From what I can see, they started to torture him a bit. I'm guessing some knife wounds. I would think vervain was in them, because he hasn't healed, but he also has not fed in a while.

"She was supposed to stay in the car," Damon says as he lounges in. He turns to face the vampire in the chair. He flips the stake in his hand and is about to lunge and kill him when Stefan stops him.

"No. No. No. Not him," Stefan says. Yeah, does he not notice the ropes and the bloody stake in his leg?

Damon just turns and says, "Whatever. Let's get you down." I notice the singing of Stefan hands and I am about to stop Damon when he grabs the ropes. I can hear the singe of his hands and his reaction.

"There's vervain on the ropes, isn't there?" I ask. I walk over and grab the ropes for him. "I got it." Damon catches Stefan as he falls and then leans him against the column. Elena goes and unties his hands, while Damon grabs Stefan's clothes.

"All right, let's go. Clothes on," Damon says.

Elena is trying to fully untie Stefan, but he is struggling to do something. He says, "Wait." And I notice that he is trying to reach for the stake in the sitting vampire's leg. I go over and remove it.

"I've got him. Go. Elena, get him out of here," I say. Elena drags Stefan away and they walk out, followed by Damon.

"Can you get him to the car?" Damon asks Elena. He nods to me as he walks out. I can hear their conversation as they walk down the hallway. I hear Elena reply that she can get Stefan to the car.

"All right, go," Damon says.

"What about you?" Elena asks.

"You rescue, I'll distract. Go," he replies. I'm guessing he goes through the door he entered from when Elena and I first encountered him here. Elena and Stefan probably go out the way she came in.

I turn back to the vampire still tied to the chair with what I can guess is vervain-laced ropes. "What is your name?" I ask him.

"Harper," he says.

I nod. "Okay, Harper. When I release you, you need to get help. Find Pearl, I think her name is. She is the one in charge, right?" He nods. "Okay, find her and get her back here as soon as possible." He nods again. I nod and remove the stake in his other leg. I then release him from the ropes and help him stand. When he is stable on his feet, I release him.

"Thank you," he says.

"Go," I tell him and he whooshes off. I now go back through the door Damon went through. Hopefully Harper will come back through. I also hope Alaric is up there helping Damon. I can't believe I am going to help Damon. I know I am actually helping Stefan and Elena escape, but still I have to make sure Damon is not killed. That is a little surreal. At least he has been helpful in keeping Elena safe. Maybe he doesn't completely suck.

As I walk upstairs, I grab two regular stakes from my coat. I am glad that it is cold and rainy. It makes it okay to wear this coat. It is this black pleather trench coat that goes down to my knees. It is warm, but flexible, so I can fight in it. It also comes with a lot of packets. I remade the interior of the coat to carry multiple stakes and many different types.

When I reach the top of the stairs, there are two vampires in the room. It is quiet and they are looking for something, I'm thinking us intruders, so someone must have noticed something is wrong. I take down the closer one quickly with a stake through his back to his heart. The other one turns and sees me with a stake through his buddy's heart. He runs towards me, but I push the dead vampire to him to distract him. The body hits the other vampire and pushes him off balance. I rush quickly to him and I stab him quickly in the heart. I grab the two stakes again.

I run to another room and find a female vampire looking around. She sees me and runs to me. I duck down to a squat and throw my leg out to trip her. It's an old trick but it's effective. She falls flat on her face. I flip her over and stab her in the heart. The funny thing about vampires is that they have their weaknesses that I can exploit. Vampires have increased speed, strength, and heightened senses. They know this and can get really cocky when it comes to hunting humans. They underestimate us. They can run very fast, but only in straight lines and large turns. They don't really have a heightened agility. They don't expect obstacles to come quickly at them. The reason they can run through a forest is because they see the obstacles far away. The same goes for fighting techniques. Majority of the time, vampires fight with very crude technique, because they know they have the upper hand. They prefer longer hits filled with a ton of strength. But if I human can use this strength against them well, then the human can gain the upper hand long enough to stake them.

I find Damon in a long hallway fighting off two vampires at once. He is holding his own, but I don't think he will last for too much longer. I call out to him, leaning against a door frame, "Hey Damon." The vampires pause for a second. I try to look as calm as possible. "I'm offended. You haven't invited me to join the party." I can see him smirk. Then one of the vampires rushes to me. I use the momentum of the vampire to flip him over me. I go to stake him, when he flips over and grabs me, so I fall onto him. I can feel his hands roaming over me for a quick second as I struggle. I lose my stake, so I quickly grab a smaller, lighter stake and shove it into his heart. His grip of me loosens as he dies and I say, "Sorry, honey. I'm just not into you like that." I hear shots behind me. I turn to see Alaric with a shotgun pointed at a fallen vampire in front of Damon. I shake off the feeling of that vampire's roaming hands on my body.

"I'm going after Fredrick," I hear Damon say. He walks off, looking for him. Then Alaric and I follow him, but Alaric is attacked by another vampire. They tussle for a bit, smashing everything around them. I would help but they are spinning and moving a bit too fast to get a clear shot at the vampire. I don't want to hurt Alaric instead. They fall to the ground and the vampire has his hands on Alaric neck when Alaric stabs him with a tranq dart. The vampire falls from on top of Alaric, who stands up rubbing his neck. I get down and kill the vampire. I don't want to take any chances. Damon comes back in and says, "Fredrick's gone." That can't be good.

"Let's get out of here," Alaric says.

"I'm gonna kill him," Damon says. We follow behind him. I can't disagree with him on that. Fredrick seems like a dick. We walk out of the door and are about to leave, when we stop on the edge of the porch. They are at least 6 vampires walking towards us. Damon turns to Alaric and asks, "How many of those vervain darts do you have left?"

"One," he replies.

"That's not gonna be enough," I reply. I look inside my coat. "I've got a handgun filled with wooden bullets and two vervain grenades, but I prefer not to use them." They both look to me at the left end of the group in surprise. Damon and Alaric turn to each other. I can see Alaric mouth the word grenades. "They are hard to make so I would rather just get out of here." I walk back in the house and Damon and Alaric follow. We get in and lock the door quickly. There is pounding on the door, so I hand Alaric a thicker stake that is really good for stabbing multiple vampires. I give Damon a regular stake cause I'm sure he will lose it. I grab a miniature stake crossbow. They both look at me again. "Hey, they are my weapons. I get to have the coolest one." They shrug and go back to the threat at hand.

"So what you said to get me to do this, about my wife. It was a lie, wasn't it?" Alaric asks.

"Yep," Damon replies. I can feel the bromance forming for some reason. I thik it somehow has to do with that line from Shakespeare's King Lear, 'for whoever sheds his blood with _me today_ shall be _my brother._' I really hope that is true in this situation because I think they both need a friend. Don't get me wrong, I think it would be a little weird, but for the most part, it should be good.

We hear a few more thuds o the door and then a female voice shouts, "Stop. What's going on here?" I think that must be Pearl. Thank you, Harper. He got help. The door creaks open and we all tense, preparing to fight again. Anna and her mom enter, so that is Pearl. I remember reading about her in my ancestor's journal. He had a huge crush on her and was so upset when he found out she was a vampire. He was right, she is very pretty. She looks around and sees the vampires that we killed. I make only a few apologies. "What did you do?" She asks Damon.

"Me?" he replies. "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother." He walks up to her.

I can see the guilt on her face. "Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."

"Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them," Damon says as he points a stake at her. I think she is stronger than you, Damon. I don't think threatening her much further would be a good idea.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Pearl replies.

"Well, it did," Damon says as he brushes past her to the front door. "If I had a good side…" He turns around to say. He points a finger at her, "Not a way to get on it." And with that he opens the door and leaves. Alaric and I follow after him.

* * *

><p>We find Elena and Stefan by the car. I can tell something happened, but I am not really in the mood to ask questions. It was a tight fit in Damon's car, but we managed. I got dropped off at the house after we dropped off Alaric at school. I'm sure Elena wants to go spend more time with Stefan. I unload the weapons in my room and I start unpacking. I did not realize how uncomfortable I was until I reached my room. I take a shower and change into some dry clothes. I then get a call that instantly sobers me.<p>

I rush quickly to Matt's house. I call Elena on the way there. They found Vicki's body. I have always felt bad about how we left that situation. Elena let Damon compel Jeremy and we let him and Matt believe that she had run off. I guess we were only delaying the inevitable. I get to the house to find Sheriff Liz Forbes, Caroline's mom, there in the living room. She must have been there to tell Kelly, Matt's mom that they found her grave. I find Caroline pouring them some coffee. Kelly has tear tracks on her face. She has never been the best mom, but I still feel sorry for her. I greet her with a warm hug and I offer my condolences. She then sits back down on the couch. I greet Sheriff Forbes as well. I follow Caroline into the kitchen, where I find Jeremy and Tyler sitting at the kitchen table. Jeremy instantly gets up to hug me. I hold him tight feeling tears well up in my eyes. He has lost so much in his short life already. I wish I could take his pain from him, but I can't because it is his life. Caroline tells me that Matt is in his room. I run over to him. I sit down with him on his bed. He just looks so out of it. I pull him close and he hugs me back. Matt has always been one of my best friends. Even when he started dating my sister, we remained so close. He is so sweet and so dependable. I am so sorry that this happened to him. He has gotten me through some of my worst times, so now all I can do is be here for him. I let lose tears for him, for his lose and his pain.

We sit there for the longest time, so being in each other's presence. I know other people would be arriving soon, so I release Matt. I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and whisper to him that I would be right back. I walk to the kitchen to start making some tea and food. There wasn't much in the house, but I could at least make a nice warm soup for everyone. I see Caroline walk towards Matt's room holding a cup of coffee. I know Caroline is probably going to be overbearing in the next few weeks and Matt might push her away, which makes me so sad, because I know they really care for each other. I start handing out some bowls of soup to Kelly and Jeremy and Tyler, when the doorbell rings. I open the door to find Elena. She must have rushed from the Boarding House. I hug her quickly. At this moment, I forgive her for everything, because right now it can't be about us. We have to be here for Matt. I whisper to her that I'm sorry and I forgive her and I tell her where Matt is. She rushes past me to Matt's room. I grab another bowl of soup for Caroline, because I know Matt is going to take comfort from Elena. I find Matt and Elena hugging, while I rush over to Caroline and hand her a bowl of soup. She looks at me gratefully, but she is still sad. We are both alike in how we always want to do something to help, but unfortunately there is not much we can do right now but offer support.

To everyone around us.

A/N: Whoo. This was another long one. So there was a time jump in the beginning of this chapter. This took a lot longer to write than expected. This chapter was about 8,000 words. So the next two chapters will hopefully finish up season 1 and with that the end of the flashbacks. But at the same time, we are meeting Elijah soon. I am thinking that after these next two long chapters. I am going to slow it back down to one episode per chapter. But they won't be too short, because I am adding in a lot of extra scenes, especially when we meet Elijah. I am super excited to see what you guys think.

I really love all the response this story is getting. I also like how all the reviews so far are mostly positive. Please keep it up. Tell me what you think. Favorite, Follow, or Review this story. Or PM me and tell me what you think. I love question. I hope to hear from you guys soon.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch.14

A/N: Well this is something new. I actually wrote some of this ahead of the time I am posting this chapter. As I mentioned in the last chapter, this is going to be a long one. This is 3 episodes in one chapter. Although there are not many scenes from Blood Brothers that I could add Emilia to. I meant to post this sooner. But my family moved again and then I had finals. But luckily, I have about a month of a lot of free time. Which I plan to use to write many chapters before I go away for 5 weeks. This chapter is pretty interesting. You get a little more insight into Emilia's character, which should be cool. You won't really learn everything until we meet Elijah. Everything will be explained when everything is explained. That's super cryptic, I know, but it will make sense later. Now onto the chapter. Sorry for mistakes.

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><p><em>Nothing had been the same since the death of Henrik. Esther spent a lot of time crying in the house. Mikael had been quicker to anger. Finn spent even more time by himself. Kol spent no time with his family, instead preferring to spend time in the company of his women or his whores, depending on how one chooses to see it. Rebekah spent her time between staring off into space and crying for hours on end. Niklaus chose to spend his time in his sketchbook. Elijah spent his time trying to keep his family together. Of course by doing this he ignored his own grief, which probably was not a good idea.<em>

_Alliana spent most of her time trying to help Rebekah, Niklaus, and Elijah, but really spent most of her time trying to gauge Niklaus's feelings for her. While he sat by the waterfall and drew, Alliana was right there trying to get him to speak to her. If he did speak, he spoke of the simplest things such as the weather or what he should draw next, nothing that could lead to the discussion of feelings, which frustrated Alliana to no end. _

_One day, she got fed up and just blurted out what she was thinking. "Do you care for me, Niklaus?"_

_He looked up from his drawing, a bloody scene of a wolf and what appeared to look like it would be the body of Henrik. His face was one of extreme shock."Wh-what… what do…what do you mean," he said stuttering._

_Alliana would have giggled at his facial expression if she was not so serious. "Do you have feelings for me?"_

_He sat up straighter. "Well of course I have feelings for you. You are a close friend of mine."_

_Alliana sighed. "No I meant… Do you have feelings for me…romantically?... Such as would you ever court me?"_

"_Well, I uh. I am not sure what to tell you exactly," Niklaus said, rubbing his neck. _

_Alliana stared him right in the eye. "Tell me the truth."_

"_I…uh... I do have feelings for you, Alliana. I am sorry that I did not tell you before. But I have only just realized these feelings for you. And now I fear it is too late."_

_Alliana moved closer to him, so that her body was right up next to him. "Niklaus, it is never too late." She leaned over and kissed him. After his initial surprise, he started to kiss her back. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them._

_That night was the night that changed everything. Alliana was walking over to the Mikaelson's hut when Mikael caught up to her. His sword was thrust through her stomach and she fell to her knees in front of Esther's feet. Mikael then cut her wrists and her blood dripped down her body. Alliana was breathing hard and her last moments of life were filled with pain. She could feel Esther catching her blood into glasses. Alliana fell to the ground, her life fleeting away. The last words she heard were Esther whispering in her ear, "This is what happens when you mess with my family."_

* * *

><p>"Jeremy! Elena! Hurry up! We have got to get to school!" I shout up the stairs. Elena rushes down.<p>

"I'm here and ready to go. We just need to get Jeremy," Elena says.

"Get some food first. I made some eggs. Jenna is in the kitchen," I tell her. She nods. It's been a few days since Vicki's grave has been discovered. Elena and I have been hanging out with Matt and Caroline more since then. Bonnie is still with her family. She tells me that Alex, Mary and Sarah are asking about me. Sarah is Sheila's sister and Bonnie's great aunt. Alex and Mary are Bonnie's cousins. I enjoyed spending time with them after Grams' funeral. Stefan is still detoxing from what I hear. Elena hasn't seen him in days either. She told me how she let him drink from her, so he could fight Fredrick. I think it was a bad idea, but I was not the one in the situation and Elena can't fight, so what do I know? So because she can't see Stefan, she went with me to visit Matt and hang out with Caroline. I wait a few a more minutes for Jeremy.

Elena comes back with Jenna following, "Come on, Jeremy. Going to school." She grabs some other piece of clothing. I didn't bother getting a good look at it. I see her and am about to open the door when she says, "Walking out the door now."

Jenna grabs Elena. "You forgot this." She holds out Elena's silver notebook for English. Elena thanks her and I turn around and open the door to see Uncle John, poised to knock.

"Emilia," he greets with a bright smile. He sees Elena. "Hi, Elena."

"Uncle John. Hi," I say. I'm never sure how to feel about Uncle John. He has always been a little weird and always seems secretive. But he is always kind, so I can't dislike him too much. Plus he is family.

John looks over our shoulders to see another face. "Jenna," he greets.

"John, you made it," Jenna says. She knew he was going to be here.

"Said I'd be in by noon," he replies. He walks in.

"Oh, what you say and what you do are typically 2 very different things." That is sadly very true.

That is when Jeremy walks downstairs. "Uncle John, what's up?" He slaps him on the shoulder as he passes on our way out. Thank God. Jeremy just walks out. No time for pleasantries.

"I'll be in the car," I tell Elena. She nods and continues to talk to Uncle John and Jenna. A few minutes in the car, when I text Matt to tell him that we will meet up at his locker, and then Elena walks in and we drive to school. Elena tells me what she talked about with Uncle John. When we go to school, she has to meet with our English teacher about an essay rewrite. I go to meet Matt at his locker.

"Uncle John is in town," I say by way of greeting. He smiles at me as he opens his locker. I lean on another locker by his.

"How long is he staying?" Matt asks.

"He said his trip is open-ended," I reply.

Matt opens his backpack and starts to switch out some books. "Uncle John. Never really liked that guy," he says.

I give a short laugh. "Does anyone?"

"I am here for moral support if you need me." I smile at him. This is what I love about Matt. He is so sweet and kind. I really wish I could always be like that, but I can't do that anymore. I am no longer that person anymore.

"Thanks. But I will suffer this one alone." I sigh and then I put on a secretive smile. "Or I'll drag Elena with me. " Matt laughs as he grabs a few books. "Besides you have been through enough." His smile drops and I hate myself for bringing Vicki up.

"Thank you, by the way," I smile bashfully. "At Vicki's funeral and her memorial." I put my hand on Matt's arm for support and comfort. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"Of course, Matt." I basically did almost everything for Vicki's funeral. I planned everything from the venue of the memorial to the flowers to what Vicki was going to wear in her casket. It was a total Caroline move, but I had done it, because I felt so guilty that she was dead. Stefan may have been the one to do the staking, but I would have done the same. She didn't deserve to die. She deserved to have gotten the chance to turn her life around. I looked at the ground for a few more seconds before I needed to change the topic. "So is Caroline still cooking for you round-the-clock?" With all the things I had done for the Donovan's, Caroline was left with very few things to do to help, so she decided to bake….and cook….and bake some more. Kelly had gotten so fed up, she started to give the food to me and I brought it to the hospital to help cheer up patients.

"No. She finally went to her dad's," Matt closes his locker. "Which is a good thing, because my mom was gonna strangle her if she dropped off one more lasagna." I laugh and we head to class.

* * *

><p>I have a study session with Valerie and Erica to study for an AP US History test we have next week. We also met up with Teddy to review our AP Calculus homework. As much as I love learning, junior year sucks. I head home to find Jenna, Jeremy, and Uncle John, all the J's, in the kitchen, eating Chinese takeout and discussing the importance of Founders' Day and our family history. I walk in and lean against the door frame, crossing my arms and legs. I hear Uncle John say, "One day, when you can appreciate the significance, I'll tell you all about your heritage."<p>

I make myself known. "Ah yes, the Gilbert Family Legacy." They turn and face me. "Such a time honored coming of age moment," I say slightly wistfully, but mostly sarcastic.

Jenna goes back to washing dishes. "I forgot how sacred it was," she says. "I'm not a Gilbert, so I was never cool enough to hear it."

I nudge her with my hip. "You are too cool to be forced to listen to the boring history of this family."

She bumps me with her elbow. "Coming from the girl who devours history texts like Jeremy eats food."

Jeremy and I both exclaim, "Hey!" Jenna and John both laugh. Jenna then glares semi-weakly at John.

Jeremy turns to Uncle John, "Why does she hate you?"

John, not looking up from his Chinese food, replies, "We used to sleep together." Woah! Jenna throws a towel at John. He ducks, the towel just barely missing his head. Jeremy jumps back and I turn to Jenna.

"Aunt Jenna!" I say laughing.

John turns to Jenna. She says, "I'm standing right here." He just smiles and turns back to his food. I chuckle, grab some takeout from the table and sit down to eat. Just a normal night in the Gilbert Household.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Elena and I talk. We decide that it is time to tell Jeremy about us being adopted. I was super nervous. He has always been my kid brother. We are just getting back to a normal place, after our parents and after Vicki. I don't want that to change quite yet. But Elena convinced me, so we decided to take him on a walk by the river and tell him there. We find him drawing at his desk in his room.<p>

We knock on the door. He turns and greets us, "Hey. What's up?" He then turns back to his drawing.

"Do you have some time to talk?" Elena asks.

Jeremy pauses. "Uh, yeah, sure." He turns around.

"Not here," I say. "Come one. Let's get out of the house." He pauses, nods, gets up, and grabs his jacket. The walk to the woods was pretty quiet, but not uncomfortable. When we finally reach the river, we walk along the bank and we tell him that we are adopted. We say that we love him and he will always be our little brother no matter what. He is silent for a few moments.

"I just can't believe mom and dad never told you that you two were adopted," he says.

"I'm sure they would've eventually," Elena says.

"Jenna says that they were going to tell us when we were eighteen," I say. I keep walking, looking down.

"Why were you worried about what I thought?" Jeremy asks.

"Because… I don't know," I start.

"It's just weird," Elena says. "Going through your whole life thinking you're related by blood to someone…" I know that nothing has really changed. We are still family, but it feels like something should be different.

"Does it bug you that we're not?"

"No, Jer. You're our brother. That's all that really matters," I say. Jeremy smiles and we walk silently for a few more moments.

"So Mr. Saltzman said you've been doing great in history now," Elena says. Elena told me last night about the extra credit paper he wrote about vampires. Elena wants to know what Jeremy knows. I don't think it matters too much. It could just be a paper. He read Jonathan's journal. That had a lot of stuff about vampires.

"Yeah. Yeah, he's really been helping me out." Jeremy looks down at the ground for a moment. "He gave me some extra credit and stuff."

"He loved your vampire paper," Elena says, sticking her hands in her pockets. She is definitely uncomfortable. It's one of her tells. I nudge her. She questions me with her eyes. I plead with her to let it go, but she ignores me and turns back to Jeremy.

"Yeah, he thought I had a clever angle."

"What drew you to that subject matter?" I roll my eyes at my twin's lack of subtlety, in my case at least.

Jeremy looks away for a second before turning back to face us. "Uh, I don't know. Um, boredom." He is avoiding something. I have a feeling this is about Anna. He turns back to face forward. "Or maybe I'm just as nuts as the long line of Gilbert crazies," he says as he faces us.

I laugh quietly. "The Gilberts aren't crazy," I say.

"Ah, easy for you to say. You're not one," Jeremy replies. Um, ouch. I reach past Elena to push him. HE pushes me back before we are full-on sibling fighting. I've got him in a light headlock before Elena breaks us apart. We walk back laughing.

* * *

><p>That night was the opening to the Founder's Day celebrations, the week-long (read month)time of year where we are forced to participate in a bunch of dull activities to celebrate the founding of this town. As much as I love history, doing this every year really sucks. And of course this is the 150 year celebration, which means extra celebration. This year is also the year that Elena and I participate in the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Our mom really loved it, so we signed up to make her happy. I love the underlying meaning behind the pageant, which is to help out your community, but I hate the bitchiness that comes with it. But right now I have to focus on the event tonight, which is sure to be some clusterfuck, seeing as that is how our lives are right now.<p>

I enter with Elena, Jeremy, and Jenna. Of course Elena immediately walks over to Stefan. She tells me that he has been a little funky since he had her blood, but it can't be easy getting over human blood after years of animal. That's got to be something like having some oxycodone after only taking Tylenol. I'm not sure. I leave them be for now. I don't need to insert myself into the middle of their drama. I go and find some of my other friends. Caroline is with her dad and Bonnie is still with her family, so I go find Valerie and Erica. I hear a fast paced song and look over to see Stefan in the middle of the dance floor, actually looking like he is having fun. Something is definitely wrong, but I really don't feel like asking questions.

About an hour later, the dance floor is packed. Elena has gone off chatting with some girls from her English class. There is some group project that they have been working on. I hang with Jenna by the food. We are sort of dancing to the music but mainly chatting. I look over her shoulder to see Alaric heading in our direction. I turn to her with a smirk, "History teacher, 3 o'clock."

Jenna quickly peaks and turns back to me with a smile. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful," I reply. She gives me a bright smile as Alaric walks up to us.

"Ah, I've been looking for you," he says to Jenna.

"Here I am," she replies. Awww, but eww. They are so cute, but it's my aunt and my teacher. It's just a bit weird for me, but I'm sure I will get over it. "I haven't seen you in a while."

Alaric shrugs and put his hands in his pockets. He looks over to me for a second before turning back to Jenna. "Yeah. Well, uh, things have been a little crazy. But I'm here now. Do you wanna get a drink?"

"Sure," Jenna replies with a smile.

"Okay, great," Alaric says as they walk away.

I smile at them and then Matt walks up to me. "When did this happen?" Matt asks, referring to the dancing around us.

"The DJ had a change of heart," I say. I know Stefan compelled the DJ, but I don't really care at the moment.

"Wanna dance?" Matt asks. I know he is probably drunk, because he doesn't normally like to dance, so I'm a little apprehensive.

"I don't know," I say.

"Yes," he replies, grabbing my hand.

"Matt," I say reluctantly.

"Yes." He starts tugging on my hand.

"Matt," I groan.

"Come on. You know you want to." Damn him for being right. I follow him onto the dance floor. He puts one hand on my hip and the other holds my hand, in very proper form, but we are just swaying back and forth fast instead. I start laughing which makes him smile. We keep dancing for a good long while with Elena joining us a few minutes after we started dancing. Matt eventually wanders off to find Tyler and get even more hammered. Stefan joins us to dance with Elena while I dance with Erica. I notice that there was some sort of confrontation between Stefan and some random guy. I see that Stefan compels him to apologize to Elena. Then decide to go find Damon and ask him what's going on.

I find Damon in the first place I look, at the bar ordering bourbon. I walk up to him, lean against the bar, and grab some bread from the platter on the bar. "Have you seen what your brother has been up to?"

"Nope. Been too preoccupied with yours," he replies. I give him a look of confusion. "Jeremy's been asking questions about Vicki's Donovan's death." Oh crap.

"He is supposed to know that her death was ruled an overdose," I say. I rub a hand on my forehead. This is going to be headache-inducing.

"Really? 'Oh, but Sheriff, someone buried her. Who would do that?' I know. I know." Damon says raising his hand and then points to himself. "Me. I mean, I could compel him, but he's wearing vervain."

I immediately respond, "You are not compelling him again."

"If he keeps asking question…"

I grab the short, thick stake from my purse. I get up into his personal space and press the stake lightly into the pressure point above his left hip bone. "Damon, no. I'm serious." I back away and place the stake back in my purse. I grab another grape from the platter. "I will not let you do that to him again. Elena and I will handle it." I pop the grape into my mouth.

I see Damon grab a yellow rose from the vase next to him. He sniffs it before saying, "Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you." He hands me the rose. He backs away for a second before coming back to whisper in my ear, "Do you always carry stakes?"

"I'm always prepared," I say back. He smirks and walks away. I sniff the flower, and it sadly smells amazing. I remember that yellow roses signify friendship. Damn him for being decent. I now have to admit that he can actually be a good person. I sigh, place the rose in my purse and go find Elena.

We find Jeremy in the den, sitting on the couch, staring into the fire. I let Elena do the talking. This is her mess. She chose to have Damon compel Jeremy into forgetting what happened with Vicki. Elena walks in and sits on the couch next to Jeremy. I decide to stay back and lean against the doorway.

"I heard about your conversation with Sheriff Forbes," Elena says as she sits down.

"No one is trying to figure out what happened to her. They're all willing to believe that she OD'd," Jer replies. That is the way this town works. Supernatural things happen all the time, but people chose to ignore them in favor of their happy, simple lifestyles.

"The coroner's office confirmed it. If that's what they said happened, then-"

"Is that what you believe?"

Elena pauses before asking, "What do you think happened?"

Jeremy replies slightly aggressively, "I think somebody killed her and buried her body." Elena looks back to me in surprise and I look around to see if someone heard that. He is really accurate with that assumption. "And I don't think we should write it off just 'cause it's easy."

"They're just doing what they can to move on," Elena says. She is totally digging herself into a hole right now. Jeremy is getting pretty pissed and Elena is not doing anything to help that.

"The truth is the only thing that's gonna help people move on." I really wish I could say that is true, because it would really help. But unfortunately we don't live in a world where that is true.

"Jer, just- just let it go. Okay?" She takes a breath before continuing. "Whatever it was, she's gone now."

"Whatever it was?" Uh-oh. We're in trouble. No, Elena's in trouble. "So you don't think it was an overdose."

"Yes. I- I do."

"Is there something you're not telling me?" How I wish I could just scream yes and tell him everything, but I don't think that would do much to help the situation. It could also put Jeremy into more danger. Elena looks away. "Why aren't you looking at me?" Cause she is hiding the truth from you. I roll my eyes at the situation Elena put herself in.

"Stop it." Elena faces Jeremy again. "That doesn't mean anything."

Jeremy looks at her in surprise and confusion and some slight betrayal. "If there was something else, you would tell me, right?"

Elena nods. "Of course I would." Jeremy looks at me. I keep my face blank but nod slightly. Elena gets up and leaves. Jeremy stays sitting for a few more moments before turning to me.

"She is lying to me," Jeremy says.

"There are things that she doesn't want you to know. Things that we want to protect you from."

"Why won't you just tell me?!" He asks, standing up.

I walk closer to him. "Do you really think that it would help? Do you really think that learning the true way that Vicki died is really going to help the pain of her loss?" He looks down at the ground. "Do you **really think** that hearing that she died in a worse way is not going to completely overlap your happy memories of her, so the only thing you can think about is how she died and not the way she lived?" Jeremy doesn't respond, but I could tell he was questioning whether or not he should actually hear it. "Well do you?" He shakes his head. I raise his head so that we are making eye contact. I speak to him quietly, "It is okay for you to want to understand why she died, but there are somethings in this world that we cannot understand. This is one of those things that it is better for you to just let go." I take a deep breath before continuing. It is time he knew. "But if you are absolutely sure that you want to know, tell me and I will explain it to you. But you need to be absolutely sure, because it will change everything." I gave him a tight hug and then I went back to the party.

On the way there, I walk past Matt who greets me with, "Who knew I'd be missing all the fun at the Founder's parties."

"This is rare, believe me."

"It is bad that I'm, uh, enjoying myself."

I turn to him and give him a sad smile, "No. It's great that you're enjoying yourself. Thanks for the dances." I put my hand on his shoulder and give it a squeeze.

"Hey, not a problem." We smile and hug. "I'm gonna get some air. Wanna come with me?"

"Sure."

"Hey, have you seen my mom anywhere?"

I answer as a put my wrap on. "Um, no. I saw her for a split second hours ago, but I haven't seen her since." I look over and see Elena and Stefan, apart and brooding. I decide to just ignore it for now. Matt and I walk outside and I see something that makes my stomach turn over 3 times. "Oh my god." Kelly and Tyler are making out a little ways away. Matt runs over and pulls Tyler off of his mom. That's just a bizarre thing to have to do. Matt and Tyler start fighting, pushing Kelly into a table of glasses, knocking it over and showering her with pieces of glass. Some pieces hit her, but I don't think she is too hurt. Tyler and Matt start rolling around on the ground, punching each other. I scream at them to stop. I would try to get between them, but they are moving too fast that I would just wind up hurting myself. Tyler gets the advantage and holds Matt to the ground choking him. Alaric and I pull him off of Matt, who starts coughing. Alaric pushes Tyler against the wall to create some distance while I check on Matt. Matt is coughing, has a bad cut on his cheek and is going to have a lot of bruises in the morning, but other than that he seems to be fine. Tyler calms down and then Mayor Lockwood comes out to take control. Mayor Lockwood gets the crowd that appeared to disperse. I get someone to grab some cloth and some water. I make Matt drink some water while I clean up his face. He thanks me and I give him another hug. I wish him a good luck, because I know he has to deal with his mom.

* * *

><p>The party quickly slows down. I leave almost immediately after Uncle John gives his speech. When I get home I find some lights on. I head upstairs to find Jeremy in Elena's room. I find him reading her diary. "What do you think you are doing?" He looks up at me in surprise. "You better have a good explanation for this."<p>

"I just wanted to know what happened to Vicki."

"I told you that I would tell you if you really wanted to know. You didn't have to do this."

He looks down in shame. "I'm sorry." He sits down on her bed.

I sit down on the bed next to Jeremy. I take Elena's diary from his hands. I place it next to me and I rub his back. "So what did you read?"

"She thought that Vicki was a monster."

I sigh. "There are so many darker parts to this world, Jer. I tried to protect you for as long as I could. I wish you never had to experience this." I take a deep breath before beginning to explain. "The things you said in your history paper were true. There are vampires in this world and in Mystic Falls. Stefan and Damon are vampires, your friend Anna is a vampire, and Vicki was one too. The day of that fire in the cemetery, Damon took Vicki and turned her. She had a lot of trouble adjusting and controlling her urges. She became dangerous and attacked you. Stefan and I fought her off and Damon killed her." Tears were streaming down Jeremy's face. I pulled him into a hug so he was crying silently into my shoulder. "You watched her die as an uncontrollable monster. You completely broke down and it was heartbreaking to watch. You couldn't understand what was going on and you were so upset. Elena had Damon compel you to forget. I tried to convince her not to, but she didn't listen to me. She hated to see you like this and wanted to protect you. She kept it from you for your safety, not because she wanted to hurt you." Jeremy wiped the tears from his face. He thanked me and he went off to his room. I wish that there was something else I could do. I decided to give him some time by not telling Elena about the diary. I put the diary back in its hiding place.

* * *

><p>Bonnie returned the next day during History class. She gave Elena a small smile that fell when she saw Stefan. I grabbed Caroline and we met up with her at lunch to welcome her back.<p>

"Bonnie! Thank god you're home!" Caroline says as we rush to give her a hug. Elena was there with her which can't be good. Bonnie told me how she wasn't super happy with Elena after hearing the tomb spell failed. But right now I really want to focus on one of my best friends being back and making through Founder's week. Caroline broke off her hug so I could get in there. "I know we spoke every day, but I missed you." I fake cough. "We missed you." Bonnie smiles at us and we smile back. It is great to have her back.

"How are you doing with everything?" I ask.

"Better. Just better. You know, just glad to be back, and trying to keep myself busy," Bonnie replies.

"Well, I can help with that. Major wardrobe confab needed ASAP," Caroline says. "You need to help me find the perfect dress for the Founder's Court." I groan quietly at the thought of going through the whole Miss Mystic Falls process. I don't even have an escort yet.

"The Founder's Court?" Elena asks. "Did I miss something?"

We all turned to Elena. Caroline's shocked face was priceless. She quickly transformed it into something less offended. "You know, The Founder's Court. Miss Mystic Falls."

"They announced it today, and, um, us three are all on it," I say referring to me, Caroline, and Elena.

"Oh my god, we signed up for that so long ago, I completely forgot," Elena replies.

Caroline scoffs. "Yeah. So are you dropping out then?" Bonnie and I roll our eyes. Always the competitive one, Care.

"I can't," Elena says. Even though I know she doesn't want to anymore.

"No?" Caroline asks.

Elena and I both look at the ground, memories of our mom flash into our minds. Bonnie replies for us, "Their mom was the one who wanted them to enter." We nod silently. I have always admired the pageant and the idea that it supports, but I never wanted to really enter until our mom convinced me. I never thought I was pretty enough to compete, especially after all that had happened before. We then start a new conversation about school and head back to classes.

* * *

><p>For the first part of the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, there is an interview. Carol Lockwood sits behind a table along with two former Miss Mystic Falls. They ask questions to try to get to know each candidate. Mrs. Lockwood starts my interview with the statement, "This year's queen will have the special honor of taking center stage at the 150th Founder's Day Gala. Before we crown our winner, we'd like to get to know a bit more about each of you." I try to smile as naturally as possible, but I am really uncomfortable. I feel like I'm being scrutinized and judged. I know that Caroline listed all of her activities. Elena probably made excuses for her lack of activity but made it sound nice. Stupid writer perks. I take a deep breath before trying to sound as qualified as I can.<p>

"Well, I have continued working with many students tutoring them in a variety of subjects. I recently started an after-school arts program for children, both in this area and for kids in under-privileged areas. I have also continued working with many shelters, including the soup kitchen, homeless shelter, and the animal shelter. I regret not having enough time to work on my project for the conservation of natural lands, especially for the areas around our lovely town. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be considered for Miss Mystic Falls. My mother really loved this pageant. She believed in the cause of supporting the community and she encouraged me to sign up. I am so honored to be nominated and I am so grateful to her for encouraging me to sing up for this honor.

* * *

><p>The second part of the Miss Mystic Falls pageant is dance practice. Teddy volunteered to be my escort and I could not be more grateful. He is super sweet and is seriously the best guy ever. His family, the Richardson's, are related to the founding families, but not directly enough to be snooty. He is such an amazing friend. Dancing with him is also great because his family sent him to cotillion for a few years when he was younger. Carol Lockwood gave the instructions for the dance, such as "Honor your partner, right hand around, focus, flirt with the eyes, not the hands." Teddy and I are already good at this dance, so we just make faces at each other and Carol when she is not looking at us. Elena and Stefan were also goofing off next to us. Stefan grabbed her and then gave her a spin and a dip. And of course Carol breaks it up with something about the intimacy of the near-touch. She complemented Amber and I as she passed back to the front.<p>

Bonnie and Caroline walked into the cafeteria right as we were about to leave. There was this awkward moment of tension when Stefan and Elena tried to talk to Bonnie. Elena and Bonnie go outside to talk, so I turn to Caroline and start talking about dresses. I know Bonnie is probably explaining how she is mad at Stefan and blaming him for the death of Grams. I know it sucks for Elena, but I totally get where Bonnie was coming from. I did the same with Elena and she is my twin. Caroline and I talk for a few more minutes until Bonnie walks back in. I wish them good luck and I leave to get the last of the supplies I need for the pageant.

The next day is the pageant. It's a beautiful spring day, the perfect day for a pageant. The contestants are all in one dressing room. I am sitting next to Elena as Jenna curls her hair. While this was going on, Elena says something about missing mom and how she would be so much happier being part of this competition if our mom was here. I can't help but agree with her. Our mom would be cheering us all the whole way through. I know she would be right next to me, giving me encouragement and complimenting both of us throughout the entire thing. I finish my makeup and I start to get ready.

My dress is this satin green with dark green leaf-design lace going up the sides. It has one strap on my left shoulder that is covered in the lace, which also goes across the top of the dress, over my chest. My hair is braided starting on the top left of my head and going across the bottom of my head, so my hair is pinned to my right side and then curled. I'm wearing emerald drop earrings and black strappy heels. My medium brown eyes shine in this color and it matches my olive skin tone well.

Elena looks amazing in her sapphire dress with two straps the cross at her back. She has her long dark hair curled, with half held back with sapphire pins, except for one curl in the front that hangs by her face. She is wearing silver drop earrings with pearls and her locket that Stefan gave her. Caroline looks fabulous in this pale pink gown. It has an interesting neckline, what looks like two small block pockets, and a slit up the middle of the skirt to her knees. Her hair is softly curled with a piece from the front held back with a diamond clip and she has diamond studs earrings. She looks like some modern princess. Tina Fell is wearing this orange monstrosity. It looks like some summer dress that a sunset exploded on to turn fancy. It could look good on someone with a different skin tone, but it made her look very yellow. The other two contestants are not very unique. One wears grey while the other wears black and white. No one seems to be able to locate Amber. It sucks because I know she gets panic attacks and she is the only one not from a founding family.

We are all lined up waiting to descend the stairs to where we meet our escort and then go to the dance floor. Tina Fell is descending the stairs when Elena gets cold feet. She can't find Stefan and she realizes she doesn't want to do it. "Do you see Stefan?" Elena asks as she looks down the staircase.

Caroline and I walk over to the opposite sides of Elena; I walk to her left and Caroline goes to her right. "No. Just my boring fill-in escort."

I turn to her. "What happened to Matt?" I ask.

Caroline sighs, "They wouldn't let him out of work." That really sucks. I know Caroline was really looking forward to dancing with Matt. Him on the other hand, not as much.

"What happened to Stefan?" I ask Elena.

"I don't know. He just disappeared somewhere," she replies. "I don't know." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "What am I doing? I never should have gone through with this." She finished facing Caroline.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asks. Oh, Elena is getting cold feet again. She is pulling the whole I'm-a-different-person-thing. Too late for that, missy.

"I need to find Stefan," Elena says. "This isn't me. I'm not this person anymore." She starts to walk away, back into the dressing room, passing Caroline.

"Uh, no, no, no, no way, no," Caroline says as she turns to face Elena. "You had your chance to drop out. And believe me, I was all for it. Because there is no way that I can beat you." Elena gives her a look. I roll my eyes at that look. She doesn't quite understand the feeling of being second best. "Elena, you're doing this because it was important to your mom." She looks like she is about to say more when her name is called.

"Ms. Caroline Forbes," Mayor Lockwood announces. Caroline smiles at Elena, takes a breath and starts to descend down the stairs, "and her escort Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton." I smile as I watch her descend the stairs. She looks like a proper queen. I only wish she could understand that.

"Elena, your next," Carol Lockwood says. Elena looks down and then back up at me worried. Where the hell is Stefan?

"Ms. Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mr. Stefan Salvatore," Mayor Lockwood announces. There is applause as she descends the stairs. Stefan is still not there, so as she reaches the base of the stairs, Damon steps in. That's not good, but I guess it is better than her having to walk alone. And I have to admit, sadly, they actually look somewhat good together. Although that thought is like a bit of vomit in my mouth. Carol Lockwood nods to me and gives me a big smile. I take a deep breath as Mayor Lockwood announces my name, "Ms. Emilia Gilbert, escorted by Theodore Richardson."

I try to use all the grace that I learned from years of dance lessons as I descend the stairs. I smile politely at everyone that I see, including Jenna, Alaric, and Uncle John. I notice out of the corner of my eye Jeremy speaking with Anna. As much as I want Jeremy to always be safe, he looks happy talking to Anna. I let it be for now, so I just ignore it. Teddy takes my hand and we walk outside to the dance floor. We line up with everyone else; I join the contestants in the left line and Teddy stands at the end of the right line, next to Damon. Amber has also seemed to have disappeared, so the music starts.

We step up to our partners and curtsy/bow, and then step back into our original positions. I hear Elena and Damon whisper something to each other but I ignore it. We raise our right hands with our palms facing our partner, and circle around our partner to the right without our hands touching. The whole romantic tension of the near touch. Once we return to our starting positions again, we drop our right hands, raise our left and turn the other way, all while keeping our eyes locked. It's super easy to keep focus on Teddy's eyes, because they are a sparkling turquoise, so open and honest. He is so sweet, but I have always been more attracted to a man of mystery. We then drop our left hand and then raise both hands, circling again to the right, just as we practiced. We then step into the dance position, with my left hand on his shoulder, his right hand on my hip, and our other hands interlocked. We then start to waltz. Teddy and I stay towards the edge of the dance floor, but we sometime cross paths with Elena and Damon. I notice them dancing together pretty well out of the corner of my eye. Soon the dance is over and we bow/curtsy again. All in all I think Teddy and I did extremely well.

* * *

><p>Night falls and they are about to announce the winner. Amber and Stefan are still missing. Who knows where they could be now, but everyone's focus remains on the pageant. All the remaining contestants are lined up on the stage with the Mayor holding envelope with the second runner-up, the runner-up and the winner's names in different envelopes. He starts by announcing how much of an honor it is to be selected to be a part of this pageant and how grateful the community is for all the work we have each done. He announces that the four finalists are Tina Fell, Elena, Caroline, and myself. Not a huge surprise. He first announces that the third runner-up is Tina Fell, also not a big surprise. It is just down to me, Elena, and Caroline. We stand together with Caroline in the middle, and we hold hands as a sign of our friendship. We silently give each other support through our linked hands. The Mayor announces that the second runner-up is Elena. That was surprise. Carolina and I smile sadly at Elena, but she smiles brightly at us. She knows that we want it more than she does. I want to win for my mom and Caroline wants to win to prove that she is more than some dumb blonde and that she is the best. It sounds bad, but she really needs to know that she is amazing. He then says that he is "honored to announce the winner of this year's Miss Mystic Falls is…." Caroline and I smile at each other wishing each other and ourselves good luck. "…Caroline Forbes!" I turn to her in surprise. We hug tightly as applause rings out.<p>

"I actually won!" she exclaims into my shoulder. I can hear the happy tears that I'm sure are in her eyes in her voice. I release her and give her a big smile. As she walks over to receive her crown and sash, she has the most radiant smile on her face that I have ever seen. I know this is truly a life-changing moment for her and I am so glad to be watching it. I know I also made my mother proud by being runner-up. She would be so proud of me participating in this pageant, let alone being runner-up. I just wish she was here to see it.

* * *

><p>Later, Damon pulls Elena and I over to tell us what he found out about Stefan. He tells us, "There were signs of struggle in the upstairs bathroom. There was blood. And that Amber girl is still missing."<p>

"Oh my god," I say as I rub my temples.

"He wouldn't hurt her," Elena says. "He won't."

"Let's just find him, okay," Damon says. "Get your coats, come on."

We go outside and almost immediately we hear screaming. We bolt over to find Stefan feeding from Amber. Damon calls out for Stefan, pulling his focus from feeding on Amber, while I grab her. Damon is walking slowly to Stefan, giving encouragement to him, saying things like, "It is okay," "get some control," "Just breathe," or "You are doing fine." Stefan's face is bloody and he looks monstrous. I can tell it shocks Elena and Bonnie behind her. Stefan launches Damon into a tree. They start to face off, Elena calling for Stefan to stop, but he ignores her. Bonnie then does some magic trick on Stefan giving him a giant headache. He stops and falls to the ground holding his head in pain. I can feel the magic flowing through the air like I always do. Bonnie must have learned this trick when she was with her family. When Bonnie stops, the pain seems to have shocked Stefan back into himself. He looks around before running off.

Later, Sheriff Forbes takes control of everything. She has Amber cleaned up by some EMTs and takes her statement, which has been slightly revised by Damon. The Sheriff thanks us for being here and we say what needs to be said to make it seem like we don't know more than we should about what is going on. The sheriff tells us that Amber is going to be okay and that she and Damon will take care of everything. I let Bonnie and Elena walk ahead to talk while I remain behind trying to stop the world from swaying. My head hurts and I'm dizzy all of a sudden. My stomach is rolling as well. I see that Bonnie is about to drive off when I quickly ask her to give me a ride home. I give Elena a quick hug and tell her to tell Jenna that I have gone home. I fall asleep almost as soon as I get into my bed, just barely having time to take off my dress before passing out.

* * *

><p>I wake up the next morning with a burning fever and my stomach in knots. Jenna makes me stay home to recover. She tells me that I just have a bad stomach bug and that I should be able to return to school in a few days, but only if I rest and recover today. Ugh. As if I don't feel bad enough, I can't even distract myself by focusing on school. Although I see her point when my head is in the toilet a few minutes later. I haven't been sick in a while. The last time I was in this position was…. Winter of sophomore year. God that was an awful time. No, no need to think about that time.<p>

I hear the sounds of Jenna getting ready. She probably has class. I should be in class right now. Sitting through an AP Calculus class with old Mr. Hancock and the five other weirdos in my class is better than this. Of course two of those weirdos are my friends but that is unnecessary. They are weirdos too. The six of us are probably the few people who actually care about our school work. Another wave of nausea rolls through me and I really wish I could be in school. Jenna comes into my room, gives me some medicine, and soon I fall back asleep.

The next time I wake, Elena comes into my room and tells me what's going on. They vervained Stefan and locked him in the cellar of the Boarding House. He is going to have to be in there for a few days until he is off of human blood and ready to go back on the bunny diet. I can somewhat imagine what he is going through. I get that feeling of waiting for your body to getting rid of something and having to go through a lot of pain for that to happen, because I am experiencing the same thing right now. Although I totally get that feeling, I am totally wishing that Stefan would be in more pain if mine would end. He can handle the pain. He is 145 years old. He has probably been through a lot worse. Although I have been through a lot worse too. God, this just leads me back to what I didn't want to think about. My stomach rolls again and soon my head is back in the toilet. Elena holds my hair and rubs my back as I vomit. Ugh being sick sucks. Elena leads me back to bed and soon I am fast asleep.

Jeremy is with me when I awake again. He is drawing in his sketchbook while he sits next to me. "Hey, how are you feeling?" He asks me.

"So crappy."

"Well, you don't look so hot either." I throw one of my pillows and he laughs. He then hands me my sketchbook and a pencil. "This should distract you for a bit."

"Thanks." I start to just doodle until I come up with an idea of what to draw. I decide to draw a wolf howling at the full moon. After eating some soup that Jenna brings up, I fall asleep with the outline of the wolf howling at a huge full moon.

The next time I wake up, I'm feeling better. Not well enough to go to school today, unfortunately. I'm stuck reading my favorite books again, watching daytime TV shows, and looking through my sketchbook. Of course that leads to me remembering why I started drawing in this book in the first place, which brings me back to what I have been trying to avoid thinking about the whole time.

My mom gave me this sketchbook for my fifteenth birthday, right before freshman year. I loved to doodle at the time, but had not ever really put time into drawing. My mom gave me the sketchbook to keep the doodles off of my textbooks. I did not really pick up the book until Elena started dating Matt. She was always hanging out with Matt or spending time at cheerleading practice and I was sort of left in the dust. I picked up the sketchbook and just drew a picture of the flowers that Matt had given Elena when he picked her up for a date. It wasn't very good, but I kept practicing until I felt it was good enough to show my mother. She was so proud of me and she encouraged me to continue with it. She bought me all these art supplies. As time went on and Elena spent more time with Bonnie and Matt, it led to Caroline and I feeling a bit left out. She turned to her extracurricular activities and I turned to my art. That was sort of how I met the cause of all these bad memories.

In the winter of freshman year, I literally ran into Keith Laughton coming out from the art store like some romance novel. I should've known that it was not some fairytale romance like I expected it to be. I wanted a romance like Matt and Elena's and I was fifteen years old. Keith was older and dangerous. I was a sweet younger girl, what was I to know about the dangers of the world. I had spent most of my life with my nose stuck in a book and Keith was the one to sort of pull me out of my own little world. He brought me into his own world, one full of adventure but also full of danger. Our relationship started like a fairytale, he brought me flowers and took me on romantic dates. It was too good to be true. After a few months of us dating, when we really started to get close, that was when the smoke screen was raised. It didn't take long for me to see the monster he actually was. I was stuck in a dangerous relationship for months. I really turned to art to deal with all the pain he put me through. We finally broke up a few months before the accident. Of course that led to even more pain and even more time in my sketchbook and history books. I focused more on the pain of people long since passed and buried my pain in my art. This of course led to my first sketchbook being filled and the one I have currently being almost done as well. I think of it as sort of ironic that one of the last gifts our mother gave us, it what Elena and I used to help with our grief, me with my sketchbook and Elena with her journal.

Of course all this reflecting leads to me getting tired. By the time Jenna comes into my room, I'm half asleep. She takes my sketchbook and my pencil and places them on my nightstand. She then turns off my light and then I am fast asleep. The next time I wake up, I feel almost completely healed. I finally get out of my bed, take a shower, put on some clothes other than pajamas, and go downstairs. After a nice family dinner of pizza since I couldn't cook, Elena catches me up. She tells me that Stefan had a breakdown. He was going to let himself die, but she got through to him and now he is back to normal. She asks me if I'm okay. I take a second to think about it. After everything, all the pain and the hurt that I have gone through, I need a moment to think. But I realized that I can't really tell anymore. I answer her honestly, "I don't know."

* * *

><p>Whew! This was really long. I hope you enjoyed it though. I would've posted this sooner, but I couldn't quite get the last part. I had a bit of writer's block mixed with laziness. I should stop making excuses, but it's true. I'd still like to thank everyone who is still reading this. I love getting alerts about review and favorites and follows. You all are amazing.<p>

Please Review, Favorite, Follow. Send me some love.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch.15

A/N: I am warning you now. This is a long and slightly angsty chapter. I am very excited for this though. I've updated twice in one month. But mainly I have been planning how to write Emilia into the first season finale for a while now. This also means we get to meet Elijah soon. Woohoo! This chapter is also the last Alliana flashback. I got to admit that she really changed over the course of writing her, but it was great fun if not a little stressful. I'm super excited for season 2. I cannot wait to finally write the romance between Emilia and Elijah. I hope you will enjoy this chapter and excuse my mistakes.

* * *

><p><em>The night of Alliana's death was the night of the death of the Mikaelson clan. The same night that Mikael drove his sword through Alliana was the same night that he did the same to his children and one more. Mikael and Esther killed both Alliana and Tatia collecting their blood as they died. The blood of twins is very powerful. This same blood was then spelled and laced in the wine that was given to the Mikaelson children. Mikael killed each of his children and fed them blood when they awoke. <em>

_The first vampires had been created._

_The deaths of Alliana and Tatia were kept secret as the Mikaelson family transitioned. The family had to sort out their issues with daylight and vervain first. But soon the lies and treachery of Esther and Mikael was discovered. _

_The first vampires were hunting. They used their enhanced speed to run through the forest to other villages to search for new prey. Early on their way there, Niklaus found a unique scent. He called his siblings over and they started to follow the scent trail. Unknown to them they were following the trail of Mikael when he dragged the twins' bodies. They took a break at the same spot that Mikael did. _

"_Niklaus, what are we following?" Elijah asked. _

"_I do not know," he replied._

"_This scent is different," Rebekah said. She breathed it in again. "But yet it feels familiar."_

"_I do agree, sister," Nikalus replied. "Which is why I believe we should follow where it leads."_

"_As long as it leads to food," Kol said. They nodded and were soon on their way._

_It became apparent that they were close when they scent began to strengthen. Soon they found where the scent was originating from. A large pool of blood that had soaked into the earth. They searched around the area. Rebekah's scream of surprise alerted them as to what was actually there. A cold hand sticking out of the ground. The boys rush over to her. _

"_Why would someone bury a body way out here," Kol asked as he looked around._

"_Because they are trying to hide who was killed," Elijah said. He walked over to the hand and he started to dig around to find out who had been buried her. Soon his brothers joined him. Once they got out the majority of the arm they realized that there were two bodies buried here, both female by the looks of it. They dig out the majority of the bodies before just giving up and using their strength to pull out the bodies. They immediately recognized the bodies. _

"_Alliana!" Rebekah shouted as she recognized the body in Elijah's and Kol's arms. _

"_And Tatia," Niklaus said as he recognized the body in his and Finn's arms. They boys set down the bodies. They all immediately run over to Alliana's body. Rebekah cradled the head of her best friend in her lap with tears in her eyes. Elijah cradled her hands, holding them to his body. Niklaus sat opposite to Elijah, staring at her bod, almost unbelieving. Kol sat by her feet trying to keep from crying like a child. Finn stood further away, watching as his siblings grieved. _

"_What happened to her?" Rebekah asked, crying._

_Elijah looked at her body. He noticed the blood on her clothes and the marks on her wrist. "It seems that she was stabbed with a sword and then her wrists were cut."_

"_It seems to be the same with Tatia," Niklaus said._

"_It looks to be that they have been dead for a bit of time," Finn said, speaking up._

"_I have not seen Alliana since before we were turned," Rebekah said._

"_I saw her last the afternoon the day we were turned," Niklaus said._

"_Her wrists were cut. Her body was drained for blood," Elijah said. _

"_We were given wine laced with blood the night we were turned," Kol said. _

"_You think that Mother and Father used their blood to make us what we are?" Rebekah asked, still holding the head of her dead best friend. _

"_I'm afraid so." Elijah said. _

_The siblings gathered around their fallen friend/lover. They grieved for their tragic loss. This would be their first of many tragic losses, but they would eventually meet someone who would bring light to who Alliana was and heal all the wounds from this loss._

* * *

><p>Coming back from being sick for a few days during Founder's Day celebration is not easy. There is definitely some slight judgement thrown your way from some of the older members of this community. But it's not hard to deal with, especially because most of them love me. They tell the best stories and they have experienced history. I find it interesting, so I spend time with them, which they love. So most of the judgement was them teasing me and telling me how I need to work extra hard on Founders Day to make up for it. Well that it is exactly what I had planned to do, so that is why I am helping Caroline and Bonnie with the Miss Mystic Falls float.<p>

I walk into the cafeteria with Elena and Stefan, but they get called away by Alaric. I can tell it's important, but I really need to meet up with Caroline and Bonnie. I tell Elena that I will meet up with them later. I walk over to the table with Caroline and Bonnie and I hear Bonnie say, "Alright, show me."

Caroline says, "Let's reference last year's Miss Mystic Falls float." She opens her computer and pulls up a picture last year's float right as I pull over a chair. I sit next to Bonnie and look at the picture. It's not bad, but I have a feeling Caroline is going to criticize it. "This is exactly what we don't want to do."

Bonnie and I both immediately respond with, "Ew." Caroline nods her acceptance of that answer and moves her computer to face herself again. Bonnie speaks up, "So what are we doing this year?"

Caroline responds, "Southern Classic Elegance."

"'Gone With the Wind.' Really?" I say.

Caroline looks up in surprise. "How did you know?"

"You channel Scarlett daily," Bonnie says.

"So true," Caroline replies.

"Yeah," I say. We all chuckle.

Caroline looks around. "Where's Elena? She is supposed to be helping."

Bonnie makes a weird face while I respond, "She is in a meeting with Mr. Saltzman," I say. "I will talk to her."

Caroline picks up the weirdness of Bonnie when Elena is mentioned. "Okay, what's the deal?" Bonnie must still be a little hurt by Grams' death and the role Stefan and Damon played and Elena's involvement with them. As much as I hate that they are fighting, I'm glad she still doesn't blame me.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asks, still trying to avoid this by playing dumb.

"Don't play dumb," Caroline says. "You and Elena are fighting."

"It's nothing," Bonnie says.

I look at the clock on the far wall and I realize I need to get going. "Hey, I need to get going. But Bonnie talk to Caroline. Get something off your chest, so you can start to forgive Elena and we all can move on." I pick up all my stuff and I stand up. "I will see you guys later. Care, I will try to draw up some designs for the float as soon as possible if you want." They both nod and wave me goodbye. I then head to Alaric's room. Something big must be going on, but when is that not happening.

I find Stefan, Elena, and Alaric in Alaric's room. Elena is sitting in a front row desk, Stefan is sitting on the desk, and Alaric is leaning against the board. They tell me a bit of what is going on. Isobel, our birth mother is a vampire and she is looking to meet us. We are waiting for Damon to go over more details. I sit by the window right as Damon walks in the door.

"Damon. Thanks for coming," Alaric says as he walks in.

Sorry I'm late. The dog ate my…" Damon starts, but he realizes we are not responding, so he stops. "Never mind." He looks around at all of our serious faces. "What's with all the furrowed brows?" That's one way to put the situation.

"I saw Isobel last night," Alaric says.

Damon turns to face him. "Isobel's here?" Alaric nods. "In town?" He nods again. Damon turns to face Elena in concern and then turns to me. Damon walks over to stand by me by the window. He faces Alaric again. "Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?"

"No," Alaric responds.

"No, they're not?" Damon asks. He takes a few steps towards Alaric.

"No, I didn't ask," Alaric replies.

"What about the invention?" Damon asks, still walking to Alaric.

"Didn't ask."

"Does she know about the tomb of vampires?"

"I don't know."

"Did words completely escape you?" Damon says as he gets right in Alaric's face. Harsh, Damon.

"No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions," Alaric replies, getting right back in Damon's face

"What did she want?" Damon asks as he turns to face the rest of us.

"She wants to see us, Damon," Elena says, motioning between us. He turns to her in surprise.

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting," Stefan says. "We don't know why or what she wants?"

"You don't have to see her if you don't want to," Damon says. Of course he is mainly talking to Elena.

"I don't really have a choice," Elena says.

I finally speak up. "She's threatened to go on a killing spree."

"Oh," Damon says. Very eloquent. "I take it that's… not okay with you guys."

"I want to do it. I want to meet her," Elena says. I walk over to her and sit next to her. We grasp each other hands in support. Twin support.

"We'll regret it if we don't," I say.

* * *

><p>Soon we find ourselves at a table in the Grille. We sit in the middle allowing Stefan who is at the pool tables to see us and hear us using his vampire hearing. Elena is talking to him. Or really she is saying this under her breath, he is listening and responding with nods and mouthed words from across the room. They are saying really mushy romantic stuff, so I focus on my drink, a mocha cappuccino.<p>

Soon Isobel is sitting down in front of us. She is pretty, but in a very serious way. She has dark hair and eyes and a very intense face. Part of it may come from her vampire aspect, but I see where Elena gets her mysteriously pretty looks. "Hello Elena, Emilia." She focuses on Elena, "You look just like her. It's eerie."

She is obviously talking about Katherine, which means the thought that I voice, "You've met Katherine?"

"She found me after I turned. Genetic curiosity, I suppose." That would be a good reason. If I was immortal and one of my descendants had turned immortal too, I would probably check on them too. "She would be fascinated by you." She is still talking to Elena.

I notice the necklace she is playing with. "Is that how you can walk in the day?" I ask referring to her necklace.

"Katherine helped me obtain it," she replies.

"Who's our father?" Elena asks. Good question.

"Not important. He was a teenage waste of space."

"A name would be nice," Elena continues.

"It would, wouldn't it? You ask a lot of questions," Isobel replies. Well you are our vampire birth mom, what did you expect?

"Why did you compel that man to kill himself right after he told me to stop looking for you?" Elena asks.

"Dramatic impact. Wish it would have been more effective." Well now you and me both.

"Human life means that little to you?" Elena asks. That's a stupid question to ask a vampire. Elena is so naïve sometimes.

"Means nothing to me. It's just a part of being what I am." It makes some sense. We don't think about the lives of the animals we eat, but then again we weren't once pigs.

Elena shakes her head. "No, it's not. I know other vampires. That's not true." I roll my eyes. Stefan is an exception and she must be totally forgetting when we first met Damon.

"Your boyfriend over there by the pool table? Stefan Salvatore." I look over at Stefan who seems to be slightly agitated. "Why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon?" That's gonna make him more agitated. "Or do you enjoy them both? Like Katherine did?" Elena looks at her with surprise. I have officially become obsolete in this conversation. Isobel seems to really be focused on Elena. She probably just wanted to meet her; I was just the other one.

"Why did you want to meet us?" I ask trying in vain to get myself back into the conversation. "It can't be just to catch up."

She looks Elena dead in the eye as she replies, "Because I'm curious about you." Thanks mom. Way to remember you gave birth to twins. I look down into my drink as she continues. "But the real reason is I want what your uncle wants- Jonathan Gilbert's Invention." So that is what this is all about. Wait which invention?

"How do you know our uncle?" Elena asks.

"I used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger. John had a crush on me for years. He was the first one to tell me about vampires." Way to go Uncle John.

"What made you want to be one?" Elena asks. Good question. I understand the fascination with the supernatural. Wait, this is where I got it from. Huh, weird. But still what is up with becoming part of it.

"It's a very long list of reasons, Elena. All of which I'm sure you've thought about." Elena shakes her head. "That was your first lie. It's inevitable. You're going to get old. Stefan won't. Forever doesn't last very long when you're human." What is her angle with this? If I didn't know better, it would almost be caring.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have what you're looking for." Elena tries to stand, but Isobel grabs her arm.

"Sit down. And tell your boyfriend to walk away." I loom up. Stefan has moved closer to us, but he backs away when Elena nods. She gives Elena a half-smile. "I want the invention."

"I don't have that."

"I know that. But Damon does. And you're gonna get it for me."

"He's not going to give it to me." She really does not see how Damon treats her, does she?

"Then the blood will be on your hands." Elena is silent. Isobel stands and walks away. "It was nice meeting you, Elena." Then she stops and turns around at the last second. "And you, Emilia." She then leaves. Ouch. I can feel the hurt and disappointment bubbling up in me. Why did I expect anything different? She never said she wanted to meet me, she wanted to meet Elena. I had just assumed if she wanted to meet her daughter, she would want to meet both. Like as some sort of package deal. I guess I was really wrong. No one ever wants me. God, this is pathetic. I squeeze Elena's shoulder before I finish my drink and quickly leave. I bump into Bonnie as I leave. I quickly apologize, giving her enough time to see the tears building in my eyes.

I run into Damon and Alaric on the way out. They give me concerned looks that I brush off. I turn to Damon. "Isobel wants Jonathan Gilbert's invention. Give it to her or she will start killing people." I then quickly run off, ignoring how they reach after me.

* * *

><p>The next day, Elena and I meet Bonnie in the chemistry lab. She and Elena had somewhat made up last night. "Hey, Bonnie," I greet her.<p>

"Hey, thanks for meeting me here," she replies. "I wanted you to see this." I look at the table and see what must be Emily's grimoire.

"Is that Emily's spell book?" Elena asks. Bonnie and I both nod in reply.

"I've been going through it since Grams died," Bonnie says. Elena wisely does not comment. "Check this out." We look down and see drawing of the vampire compass which Elena points out. "According to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic." She flips pages showing us each new thing. "Compass, rings, and the mystery device you told me about."

"Yeah, that's it," Elena says. I look down at the picture again. "Well part of it. Damon only has the one piece."

I get a closer look at the picture. "Wait, I know what this is. I read about it in one of Jonathan Gilbert's journals. This is a weapon against vampires. I don't remember exactly what it does, but it is extremely harmful to vampires. Why would Isobel want this?" I look at both of them, neither of them with the answer.

With the new information in mind, we head outside to spread this info to the rest of the group and to help with the floats, in my case. I head over to help Caroline spread streamers on the Miss Mystic Falls float. I look over and see Jeremy and Elena in an intense discussion. He must still be mad at her for the whole memory-erasing thing. I hear Elena call out for Jeremy, so I look up at Elena. There she is with Isobel. Uh-oh. I immediately leave my post and head over to protect my sister.

"What do you think you are doing here?" I ask. I pull Elena slightly behind me. I'm so glad I always come prepared. I finger the stakes I have in my jacket sleeve.

"I'm your mother. I want to be more involved in your lives," she replies.

"You don't want to be part of our lives. If so, you would've been here a long time ago. You want the invention, but as Elena told you, We. Don't. Have it." I say, enunciating the words of the last sentence.

"Oh, Emilia. You really are the smart one."

"I'm also the dangerous one. I've been dealing with vampires for years. You don't scare me. So get to why you are here." I say getting closer to her.

"You are very protective of the people you care about. And you have a lot of people that you care about. But I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right." She turns to face Bonnie who is walking by. "There is the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one." She looks to someone behind us. "oh, sad little brother Jeremy." I tense. She better stay far away from him. "And there's Caroline." We turn to face Caroline, who is still working on the float. Always the perfectionist. "Obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her, by the way. She had no idea who I was, and she wouldn't stop yapping." I roll my eyes. Caroline would do that. Isobel then turns to face Matt. No. "Matt. Emilia's closest guy friend. Elena's friend and ex. Yappy's future ex. Lots of connections there."

"Matt's not involved with us," Elena says.

"He's involved with you, isn't he?"

Elena is about to say more, but I cut in. "What is your point with all of this?"

"You have lots of friends. But I have some friends here too. Look. See that man over there standing next to Matt by the float?" We turn to face Matt. There is an attractive cowboy standing next to a crouching Matt. "His name is Frank. He's very handsome. And he's also quite handy. He noticed the axle was kind of rusted, which is very dangerous." I kinda see where she is going with this. Oh crap. I want to move but I don't want her to hurt him or someone else, so I stay put. I can't exactly stake her in this crowd. "So all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure, and…"

We both scream out, "No!" as we see Frank jump on the float where Matt was currently working on, causing the float to fall and trap Matt's hand. We both try to move, but Isobel grabs our arms. She had moved behind us and trapped my left arm and Elena's right in her vampire death grip. I struggle for a second, before I pull her pinky finger back as hard as possible, which releases her hand. I immediately rush over to Matt. The guys with Stefan's help lifted the float off of Matt. Caroline rushes over. I tell her to call for an ambulance. Matt is cradling his hurt arm. I gently try to examine his arm. From what I can tell, the very least his hand is at broken, if not multiple parts of his hand and arm shattered. I can see from the corner of my eye that Isobel still has Elena. Soon I hear her calling out for Jeremy. Oh fuck. She just made a big mistake. Threatening lives in this town is one thing, but threatening my family is another and I will get her for that.

Caroline comes rushing over. "The ambulance is saying 15-20 minutes." She kneels by Matt's left side.

Tyler comes rushing over as well. He crouches by Matt's right. "I have my car. I can take him to the hospital."

"Caroline can take me," Matt says.

"But I didn't drive," she replies.

"Then I will wait. It's fine," Matt stubbornly says.

"No, you are not waiting," I say from my spot in front of Matt. "You need to see a doctor now. Tyler is driving you. End of story."

"Fine," Matt says. He knows better than to argue with me.

I look up at Tyler, who is still standing there. I'm guessing in some sort of surprise. I yell at him to go get his car. He says that he will bring it around. As soon as Caroline and Matt take off to the hospital in Tyler's car, I rush off to find Elena, so that we can get Jeremy.

* * *

><p>At first we meet up in Alaric's classroom, where we decide to try to convince Damon to hand over the device to give to Bonnie to undo the original spell, rendering it useless. We then went to the Boarding House where we argued with Damon to hand it over. He said he didn't want to give Isobel to give to John, who would turn around and kill him. He said he would get Jeremy his own way. I told him that tried to formulate some plans, but they all winded up with the huge possibility that Jeremy could get hurt or be killed. We still had to convince him to trust Bonnie to do the spell. She showed him what he claims was a parlor trick of her pulling a book that he names (Call of the Wild by Jack London) out of the bookshelf using magic. Eventually Elena does her thing where she connects with him by unknowingly appealing to his feelings for her. He gives her the device and I help Bonnie get the supplies needed for the spell.<p>

She places a piece of the device in the center of a table filled with candles. With magic, it levitates and spins. She whispers something in her magical language and the light flicker. I can again feel the magic swirling around right before the flames in the candles and the fire in the fireplace increase. Then everything stops, the piece drops into Bonnie's hand and she says that she did it.

We meet Isobel in the center of town. She flashes behind us and immediately asks, "Where's the device?"

I take a step closer to her. "Where's our brother?"

"This isn't a negotiation. Where's the invention?"

I take another step. "True. A negotiation is a discussion intended to produce an agreement. We have already come to one. We will give you the invention, once you have shown that our brother has is safe and unharmed. So we ask again."

Elena takes a step closer and asks, "Where is our brother?"

"Do you really think that I came alone?" Isobel asks. Frank and a tall woman walk in behind us. As if that was supposed to intimidate or scare us.

"Do you really think that we did?" Isobel turns to see Stefan and Damon walking in behind her. I think they look more intimidating than her little friends.

She turns back around. "For god sakes, call home."

"What?" Elena asks.

Isobel rolls her eyes. "Call home, ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."

Elena whips out her phone and calls home. Jeremy picks up, assures us that he is okay and then she tells them that we will be home soon. She hangs up and puts her phone away. "You were never going to hurt him." I roll my eyes at her naiveté.

"No. I was going to kill him." Knew it. "don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any." She says this almost sadly. Huh. Maybe her switch is more of a dimmer. I love the idea of the feelings switch. It's funny how untrue it is. Sure you can shut off your feelings, but they are never truly gone. Humans can do it too, but not as well as vampires. From what I have read, the feelings just kind of sit behind this wall that vampires metaphorically build, but they can leak through. Or something like that. I think we all just want to escape from ourselves and the guilt and horror of life sometimes.

"But you took a risk with Damon. How did you know he was going to give it to me?" Elena asks.

"Cause he is in love with you," Isobel replies. And there are the shocked looks. If this weren't a serious situation, I would be cracking up. Elena, Stefan, and Damon all have this wide range of emotions going through their faces. Elena is surprised and confused. Stefan is the same, but also a little mad and probably jealous. Damon is shocked and slightly guilty. Isobel holds out her hand.

Elena sighs as she pulls the device from her pocket. She steps forward and right as she plops it in Isobel's hand, she says, "Thank you."

Isobel asks, "For what?"

"For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of our real mother perfectly intact."

"Goodbye, Elena," Isobel says. "As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out. But we all know that you are not Katherine." They walk away from each other. I grab the stake from my jacket sleeve, step up to Isobel, and stab her through the stomach and up towards her heart. She gasps in pain and starts to lean on me.

"That is for threatening and kidnapping my brother, hurting Matt, and threatening the rest of the people I care about." I can feel her backup walking towards me and I can see Damon, Stefan, and Elena stopping and watching to see what I do. "Ah, Ah, ah. I would call your guard dogs off. This stake that I'm holding is centimeters away from your heart. One wrong move and it goes into your heart." She waves them away. "Good. Now if you ever try something like this again, I will do far worse than just stabbing you with a stake. Do you understand?" She nods, so I pull the stake from her body and step back. She crumples to the ground. I crouch down and whisper softly to her. "If you do come around again, try not to forget, you have two daughters."

I quickly stand and walk away. I see Elena hugging Stefan, while Damon looks on kind of longingly and forlornly. I walk over to him. "I know we are not close or anything like that. And I don't know about you, but I could really use a drink and a friend right about now."

He pulls his eyes away from the loving couple and looks over at me. He gives me a half-smirk. "Come on, Buffy." He starts to walk away.

"Buffy?" I ask.

He turns back towards me, "As in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.'" I chuckle and follow him.

* * *

><p>Damon may not be the best guy, but he can be a pretty good friend when you need one. He took me to the Boarding House and gave me a glass of some of his good bourbon. We sat staring at the fire, drinking for a good few minutes before finally asking, "Does this mean that we are friends now?"<p>

I turn on the couch that I am laying on to face him. He turns to face me on the chair he is lounging in, "Does what?"

"I don't know. This. You giving me a nickname and some bourbon, and me not threatening to kill you and distracting you from… well you know."

He chuckles. "I guess so."

"Is the nickname your sort of official seal of acceptance? Like this person is now a part of my life, unfortunately, so I now will call them whatever I want, sort of thing?"

He takes another sip of his drink. "I guess so."

"Huh," I say. "I'm glad to be the first one then." Damon just nods and then we both just take another sip of our drinks and relax. A few minutes later my phone goes off. Jenna is calling me. I get up and walk to another room as Damon stands to get another drink. I tell Jenna that I am hanging out at Caroline finishing some last details before the parade tomorrow and that I will be home soon. I hate lying to her, but she is not exactly going to understand hanging out with Damon. I walk back to the living room/parlor whatever you want to call it. I find Damon and Stefan having an intense conversation. I don't want to get in the middle of that. I am about to go walk around the house, but then I hear Damon say, "I wasn't looking forward to telling her the truth anyway?" I am curious, so I stop and listen.

"What truth?" Stefan asks.

"About John." What about Uncle John. "Because I know you don't like to keep secrets from each other."

"What are you talking about?" Yes what are you talking about Damon?

"Am I the only one around here who has the ability to put two and two together?" No. But I'm not sure which twos you are referring to. "Isobel. Hello?" Narrowing it down, but not enough. "She dated John when she was 15. She gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor's office of John's brother." All the air leaves me in a rush. Oh my God. "Now, what do you think is John's role in all of this, huh?"

I take that as my cue. I step forward into the parlor thing. "John is my father," I say. They both turn to me in surprise. It takes all my self-control to keep my face impassive. "It makes sense. Nice job, Damon," I say softly, but emotionlessly. I pour myself another drink and knock it back quickly. "Stefan you can tell Elena. I don't think there will ever be enough time for me to process this and then be able to explain it to someone else, especially not Elena." I set down my glass. "Thanks for the drink, Damon. I will see you guys at the parade tomorrow." Then I quickly left.

* * *

><p>The next morning is a flurry of fabric, curling irons, and, ribbon. The day of the Founder's Parade. Elena and I start the morning the same way women did in the time of the founders. Jenna wakes us up to start the day. We shower and blow-dry our hair, not exactly like in 1860, but whatever. Then the styling starts. I sit for what felt like hours while Jenna curls and styles my hair into a fancy updo while Elena does my makeup. Jenna pulls pieces of my hair in the back and braids them with ribbons that match my dress and then she pulls the rest into a low bun with a few curls hanging out that is held with the braided portions. Then it was Elena's turn. Jenna leaves her curls down but clips the front ones back with a red rose clip. Then we get dressed. Layers and layers of fabric are put on us. Petticoats and corsets and stockings and garters. Ugh I want to kill Caroline for making us deal with this. But in the end, we look great. Elena dress is yellowish-green. It has straps that hang off her shoulders and flowers and butterflies embroidered on it. My dress is lavender and has thin capped sleeves and a layered skirt. The dresses are really heavy and pretty uncomfortable, but they look great.<p>

We walk through the school courtyard to get to our float. This is one of the busiest days of the year. Everyone is outside today, helping out with the floats and the parade, but at least it is a gorgeous day. We walk towards our float and on the way we find Stefan and Damon. As soon as they see her, it looks like the whole world disappears to them and there is only Elena. That was just such a confidence booster for me. I get that Elena is the pretty one. We have basically the same face, but she has the dark hair and eyes that give her this air of mysterious beauty. My lighter hair and eyes are nice but they aren't anything spectacular, I'm demoted to the less pretty one. It didn't help that I was already the smart one. I spent more time reading than talking to boys, so when guys started noticing us, Elena was the one that was noticed more. I get that people always see my sister before me, but when you see two guys who are in love with her, but are your friends too only pay attention to her, it actually kind of hurts. It's stupid, but it's what I feel. We both curtsy and then I go off to find Caroline, Bonnie, and Teddy.

I find them taking pictures by the float. Caroline is ordering Matt to hide his cast because it is 'not ere-appropriate.' They look great. Matt looks dapper in his suit. Caroline looks bright and bubbly in her yellow dress. Then Caroline asks for one with Bonnie and I. Of course Tyler is there to volunteer as cameraman, which makes Matt mad. He is still pissed off about the whole making-out-with-his-mom-and-then-brawling-thing. We then take a few more pictures and then get on the float.

The parade is great. The marching band is first. Then the Battle of Willow Creek float which Tyler made and Jeremy is on. Then there is the Miss Mystic Falls float. We are ordered by our title thing. Caroline is at the back of the float, but at the top. I am in front of and beneath her, Elena is in front of and beneath me, and so on and so forth. Of course we are standing with our escorts, so Matt is with Caroline, I'm with Teddy, and Elena is with Stefan. I think we look great. We are waving at everyone and everyone is cheering. It's actually kind of fun.

After the parade is a sort of carnival celebration thing. There's food, music, and games. It's pretty fun. That happens until nighttime and then there are fireworks. All in all, it's a pretty good day. Of course there is drama. First off, Jeremy is still pissed at Elena, so he stalks off pissed when she tries to apologize. Then Damon is in love with Elena, so he goes off after Jeremy to get Jeremy to forgive her to so he looks good in Elena's eyes. And this means that they wind up almost fighting and I have to break it up. I see Jeremy start to walk away and Damon grabs his arm. They exchange words and I'm betting Damon is threatening him. I walk up to them and tell Damon to let him go. Stefan walks over and grabs Damon while I take Jeremy. I ask Jeremy if he is okay.

Stefan steps next to me and in between Damon and Jeremy. "What my brother is trying to say is don't blame Elena for this. Damon turned Vicki. I killed her. She was a threat to you and she was a threat to your sisters. I'm sorry that it happened. I wish that it hadn't." You and me both Stefan.

Jeremy replies, "You shouldn't have made me forget." And then he walks away. I roll my eyes at his teenage angst. I then go to find my friends. I hang out with Bonnie and Caroline for most of the evening. Stefan and Elena are being couple-y, and I was not in the mood for being a third wheel, so I tell them to contact me if anything was happening.

We are eating dinner at the Grille when everything first starts to go wrong. Bonnie leaves to go check on a few things, which should have been a clue. I stay with Caroline and Matt, because I thought they could use some protection and nothing serious could need my attention if no one was calling me. I'm sitting next to Matt who is currently glaring at Tyler, who is playing pool. Caroline notices and says, "There was this time in freshmen year when Bonnie and I were in a fight. And we swore that we would never talk again." I remember that. They were crushing on the same guy I think and got into this huge argument. It was bad. They didn't talk to each other for three weeks. Elena and I went back and forth between them before I finally got them to forgive each other.

"Caroline, give it a rest," Matt says softly.

That's when the Mayor walks in. That should have been another sign. He walks over to Tyler and tells him to go home. Tyler tells him something he doesn't like. The mayor grabs him and Tyler pulls away. That's when we walk over. "Mr. Mayor, is everything okay?" I ask him sweetly. He looks around and sees the three of us.

He turns back to Tyler. "Please, Tyler, I need you to go home. Now. Take your friends with you."

"But why? What's going on?" Matt asks.

"I can't explain," the Mayor says. "All of you need to get home. Now. Please."

Tyler nods, "Yeah, okay."

The Mayor hands him his keys. "Here. Take my car. It's out back." Tyler starts to walk away. The Mayor sees us again. "Come on. Caroline, Matt, Emilia, go with him." We grab our stuff and follow Tyler out. I didn't understand what was going on, so I tried to call Elena, but she didn't answer. I tried to leave the group but Caroline grabbed me and pushed me into the car. That girl is strong when she wants to be. As soon as we started to drive away, the fireworks started. I was sitting in the back seat with Matt, so I could turn around to watch. This was always my favorite part. My family would always get together and stand real close when we watched the fireworks. It started when we were little kids who got scared by the noise, but we made it a tradition to always be by each other when the fireworks started. It seems like so long ago.

A minute or two after the fireworks start Tyler starts acting weird. "What the hell is that?" He asks.

"What's the matter?" Caroline asks from her seat in the front.

"That noise," Tyler replies. That's when I remember. The Gilbert device. It was used to cause great pain to the vampires. It sent out a signal that only the supernatural could hear and it was supposed to be very painful. But why was Tyler hearing it. Bonnie was supposed to un-spell it. And how could he hear it. He is not a vampire, so what is he?

"Wait, what noise?" Matt asks. The Tyler starts to really freak out. He grabs his head in great pain. We start calling out to him. Soon he starts screaming and let go of the wheel. The car starts to go out of control. I yell at Caroline to grab the wheel. Tyler keeps screaming. The tires are screeching. I unbuckle my seatbelt to check on Tyler. I move forward right as Caroline grabs the wheel. She jerks it to the right, which means the car jerks and I slide to the right. I try to move to check on Tyler again. Matt tries to pull me back in my seat. Then we crash. I was in the middle so I go shooting forward. I try to stop myself by putting my right hand on Caroline's seat, but pain goes through my arm and I feel my shoulder pop. Matt grabbed me just in time so I don't go shooting through the windshield. But my weight pulled his body enough to cause the seatbelt to stop him hard. We all fall back into our seats again when the car stops. I immediately hand Matt my phone. I tell him to call 911. I get out of the car and help Caroline. Tyler has been knocked out. My shoulder is killing me. Matt hands me my phone back and he and Caroline try to get Tyler out of the car. I tell them to wait for the ambulance.

I call Elena. She finally picks up. I can hear Stefan groaning in the background. I tell her to put me on speaker. I can hear Stefan explaining the pain from the device.

Alaric comes up. "I saw at least 5 vampires go down. They were taking them to your family's old building."

I speak up, "It's the Gilbert device. I just remembered earlier. It was meant to send out a powerful sound that only vampires could hear to cause them pain and weaken them. That is exactly what happened, wasn't it?"

"But how did he get it to work?" Elena asks. "Bonnie un-spelled it."

"Maybe she didn't," I hear Alaric say.

"She did. We saw her do it," Elena says.

"No, no, no. He's right. Think about it," Stefan says.

"We asked Bonnie to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires. She did the same thing Emily did," I say.

"So we could protect you," Elena says.

"And Damon. Vampires," Stefan says. "Where is Damon?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since this started," Alaric says.

"What about Jeremy? Has anyone seen him?" I ask.

"Can you get my brother? Take him home?" I hear Elena ask, I'm guessing she is talking to Alaric.

"Of course," he replies.

"Let's go," Elena says. I tell her to make sure to keep me on speaker. I need to know what's going on.

The ambulance has finally arrived. The EMTs get Tyler out and are checking him out. Matt is checking on Caroline. I hear him ask if she is okay. Her side took the biggest hit.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," she replies.

I can see Matt is still worried about her. "No, they need to check you out." But Caroline keeps denying it, saying she is fine.

"They are helping Tyler," Caroline says.

I hear an EMT say that his pulse is steadying which is good. I walk over to him, just to keep an eye on him. I'm still wondering why he was affected by the device. An EMT shines a light in his eye. His eye is different, almost animal like. The EMT recoils in shock. The go to check him again, but he wakes up, with his eyes normal. Matt and I both sigh in relief.

"What happened?" Tyler asks. I see he is okay for now. Matt is watching him, so I head to Caroline. I'm still worried about her. My shoulder is killing me, but I push past the pain. I walk over to Caroline right as she collapses. I try to grab her but it pulls on my shoulder painfully so I have to set her down as gently as I can.

"We need help over here!" I call out. I shake her, but she won't wake up. The EMTs get us right away. They get her on a gurney and into the ambulance. They pull me in too. They can see that my shoulder is seriously injured, but I'm not going to leave her, so they allow me to go with her. I stay on with Elena the whole way there. She is asking about what happened to me, but I tell her that I'm fine and to focus on saving Damon. I hear over the phone that my father's building is on fire and that is where the vampires are trapped, including Damon.

I hear Elena ask, "Where's Damon?"

"With the rest of them," Uncle John says. Of course he is behind all of this. He taught me about vampires, but he always hated them. I can't even call him Uncle John, he could be my father. Ugh, that is still too weird. "Where he should be," I hear John continue. "It's over for Damon."

"You're crazy," Elena says.

"Why?" John asks. "Because I am doing what should have been done 145 years ago? This is the right thing Elena." This is not wrong, but it is not the right thing either. "Go ahead. You won't make it out. It will save me the trouble of killing you myself." He must be talking to Stefan.

There is a break and the sound of movement. "You know the building well. Is there another entrance in?" I hear Stefan ask into the phone. Thank god he knew to ask me first. That saved some time.

"There's a utility door around the side," I say. Some of the EMTs look up at me, but I ignore them. There is the sound of movement, which I guess is the phone being handed back to Elena. Then there is a grunt, which I figure comes from Elena.

"You take one more step, and I'll alert those deputies that they missed a vampire," John says. He must have grabbed her before she ran after Stefan.

"I'm asking you not to," I hear Elena say.

"That doesn't mean anything to me," John says.

I speak up. "As our father, it should."

There is this moment of silence.

"You know," John says.

"We weren't sure," I say. I take a moment to wonder the clarity of this speaker phone. I'm glad I am getting everything, but I hate not being there myself. I really wish I could've seen his reaction.

"But now we are," Elena finishes for me. I can hear the sound of footsteps, so I assume that he let her go and she is running after Stefan. "Stefan!" I hear her call.

"Elena! You can't go in there," a voice says. I recognize it as Bonnie. I'm mad at her, but I'm glad she stopped my twin. Elena cannot go in there.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" Elena asks.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," Bonnie says.

"Bonnie, just do something!" I yell. Of course that is the moment the ambulance arrives at the hospital. I am rushed into the Emergency Room. I sit down on an empty bed. I refuse to not know what is going on. I hear Bonnie chanting.

"Bonnie, I've got to get in there," I hear Elena say. But I still heard Bonnie chanting, so she must be keeping Elena there. I send all thoughts to Bonnie, hoping she can help. I can almost feel the magic from all the way here. I hear Bonnie stop chanting.

"Are they okay?" I ask. Then I hear the sound of coughing. Two people coughing. They are okay. I tell Elena to take care of Stefan and Damon. I tell her that I will be fine and that I will be home soon. She tells me that she will get my stuff and drop it at home before getting me. I tell her that I will make it home fine. We say goodbye and hang up.

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><p>I finally let myself get checked out. An hour, an X-ray, and a lot of shoulder pain later, the doctors diagnose me with a posterior shoulder dislocation. They pop my shoulder back into place. It hurt for that second, and then the pain is gone. Of course they commend me for being brave and doing it without pain meds. The set me up with a sling and a prescription for some pain meds. They discharge me, so I'm allowed to go home. I find Matt in the waiting room, waiting for news on Caroline. I tell him that I will go home and bring back some food as long as he keeps me updated. He gives me a small smile and I squeeze his arm with my good hand. I see Tyler walking up, so I leave.<p>

I rush home to find Jenna there. She immediately fusses over me when she sees the sling and furiously questions what happened to me. I explain to her that I was in a car accident and that besides the dislocated shoulder, I am completely fine. I tell her that Caroline is still in the hospital, so I will have to go back. She tells me that she will help me make some food for Matt and the Sheriff. She tells me that the building burned down and that she will have to talk to the fire marshal about it. But first we decide to make some food. Jenna makes some sandwiches, while I try to bake cookies, with one hand. It is not easy, but I managed with a little help from Jenna. We look for something to pack it all in, and I suggest the picnic basket that is in Jenna's car. She always forgets to take it out. I open the door to go outside and I see Damon and Elena kissing. Holy crap!

They stop when they realize that I am there. Elena almost glares at me before realizing that it's me. "Hi," she says, turning to face me. Damon turns so he is not facing me. Oh he knows he is in trouble.

"It's late. You should probably come inside," I say. Elena sighs and goes to grab her stuff.

Damon turns to me and sees the sling. "What happened to you?"

"Car accident. Shoulder was dislocated," I reply.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"I've been worse." That's when Elena walks up to the door. I open it wider to let her in. I give Damon one last look. The 'you are in so much trouble' look. Damon reads it and winces. I close the door behind me. I turn and face Elena. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she replies. She then walks away and goes upstairs to put her stuff away. I then see that Damon has flashed away, so I go back outside and grab the picnic basket from the car. I quickly set it on the counter and scurry away from John who is in there. I hear Elena go down the stairs right after I go into my room. That is weird. She would normally check up on me, especially if I'm injured.

I take off the makeup that is on my face. Then I hear screaming. I rush outside of my room and I hear that it is coming from downstairs.

John!

I run downstairs as I hear him groan in pain. I look over to see Elena, but with vampire eyes holding a knife in John's stomach.

Oh My God. It's…

"Katherine," I say.

I hear keys opening the front door. Elena.

Katherine smiles at me and then flashes away. John falls to the ground.

I call out, "Elena!"

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><p>Oh my god! That was long. This chapter amounted to a little less than 9,000 words. Not the longest one, but it took forever to write. I don't know why. It was just kind of difficult. Plus I am sick, as I have been for the past few days. But I really wanted to get this chapter done and out. I'm leaving in 9 days for Washington DC and I will be busy for five weeks. I don't know if I will have much time to write, so I will try to write one more chapter before I leave, but I don't know.<p>

This is the part where I thank all of you for putting up with me until now. I know it has not been easy dealing with my super inconsistent updates and the fact that I have taken this long before we even get to season 2. I hope you understand Emilia's character a little more. But now comes the fun part. We finally are getting really close to meeting Elijah and I am super excited for you to read their romance. It's going to be great.

I need to thank everyone who has read this story and enjoyed it. You guys are really what kept me in focus while I was writing and I need to thank all of you. I am so grateful for all the responses I always keep getting about people following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. You guys are amazing. There are 237 people following this story, 189 people who have favorited this story, 89 reviews, and 36,167 views. Each and every one of you is amazing. I would love if this story will make it to 100 reviews, 250 follows, and 200 favorites. If you guys could do that that would literally be the most amazing thing ever. I'm not asking for anyone to do anything, it would just be great if this did happen. I love each and every response to this story and I am so grateful for every one.

Tell me what you guys thought of this chapter!


	16. Chapter 16

Ch. 16

A/N: So it's been awhile. Sorry about that. But I'm back after months. At least it was a good stopping point…ish. So I'm super excited to be starting on season 2 now! Yay! This means we are only a couple chapters away from meeting Elijah! I would just like to thank all of you for sticking by this far. I'm sorry this is a long story already and we haven't even gotten to the good part yet. But the good part is gonna be amazing (hopefully). I just would also like to give a shout out to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed this story. We got way past my goals and I cannot thank you guys enough. And on that note, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine but my OCs. You know the drill.

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><p><strong>Previously on <strong>_**The Lost One**_**: **(for those who have forgotten what has happened cause it's been awhile. If you can remember everything because you are super awesome or you just read the entire story minutes ago, feel free to skip this part)

Alliana was the twin of Tatia, the original doppelganger. She moved into the same village as the Mikaelson children when they were all younger, so they grew up together and were very close. Then Tatia comes to the village and takes Niklaus's and Elijah's attention away from Alliana, so she gets jealous and steals them back. Esther kills them both using their blood in the ritual.

Emilia is the twin sister of Elena. She is younger and smarter, but is often left feeling in the shadow of her prettier, older twin, but that doesn't matter because they are super close. Elena and Emilia meet Stefan and Damon, the vampire brothers. Elena falls in love with Stefan, but Emilia hates Damon, because he is a dick. After many wild adventures, (You should know what happens in the show), Emilia and Damon eventually become reluctant friends with him giving her the nickname Buffy cause she is super badass and can fight vampires. In the last chapter we met Isobel, who ignored Emilia in favor of threatening Elena and kidnapping Jeremy. After that whole conflict is resolved as well as Damon's feelings for Elena being announced, Emilia gets a little revenge in the form of a stake in Isobel's stomach and a well-placed threat. Damon and Emilia head to the Boarding House for a drink where Damon spills his correct theory about John being the twins' father to Stefan and Emilia. Then the Founder's Day Parade and celebration happens. Emilia goes with Caroline and Matt into Tyler's car, which crashes, leaving Emilia with a dislocated shoulder. She sees Tyler's wolf eyes when the EMTs flash the light in his eyes, but forgets about it when Caroline passes out and as she hears other events from this episode through her phone on a call with Elena. She gets home to find Damon and Elena kissing on the porch. The last chapter left of with Emilia rushing downstairs to find Katherine stabbing John in the stomach and Elena's keys opening the front door.

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><p>Elena finally opens the door right as Katherine flashes away. Elena gasps as she sees me on the ground putting pressure on John's bleeding wound. This is kind of difficult with just my left hand, seeing as how my other is in a sling.<p>

"Elena! Call 911!" I shout to her. I hear her grab her phone and list our address. I tell her to go check on Jeremy after she tells me that the EMTs are on their way. She runs upstairs and then a few seconds later I hear her start to scream Jeremy's name. Oh no. Oh come on. I can't go to see what is going on until someone gets John. I can't just leave my father/uncle to bleed out. Ugh this is still such a weird situation and I haven't processed it all quite yet.

When the EMTs finally rush in, Stefan slides in the door with them. "Stefan! Can you go check on Elena and Jeremy? They are upstairs in Jer's room. Go quickly!" I tell him. He nods and rushed upstairs. As soon as the EMTs load John into the ambulance, I run upstairs to check on Jeremy. Elena tells me that he drank some of Anna's blood and then tried to kill himself, but he is fine. I give him a 'you're in so much trouble' look and tell him that he is going to get a lecture when I get back. I then rush downstairs and grab the basket of food I made for the sheriff and Matt because they are still at the hospital waiting on Caroline. I rush to my car and head to the hospital.

I find Matt sitting alone in the waiting room. I sit down next to him and put my arm around him and he leans his head on my shoulder. Poor Matty. I don't think he could handle losing Caroline. Especially after the whole Elena thing, then losing his sister, then his mom leaving him. God these past couple of months have been rough on him.

Ten minutes later, Bonnie joins us, "How's Caroline?" she asks as she walks up to us.

Matt turns to her and tears pop into his eyes, "She's not good, Bon."

Bonnie sits down on Matt's other side, "What happened?"

I can see that Matt is starting to choke up. I rub my hand on his back as I explain to Bonnie what happened. "We were driving and Tyler heard this noise. He got this terrible migraine and lost control of the car."

"A noise?" Bonnie asks. I can see her apprehension on her face. Oh right. The Gilbert device that she said she 'un-spelled' is what caused Tyler to freak out. She is now getting the message that she is the reason why Caroline is hurt.

"We thought Caroline was fine, and then…and then she just wasn't," Matt says, choked up. I pull him into a tight hug. We all need Caroline to get through this.

Fifteen minutes later, Matt goes to the bathroom and goes to talk to the sheriff. I give him a thermos filled with some coffee for him and Sheriff Forbes.

A minute later, Elena comes rushing in, "Bonnie, how's Caroline?"

We both get up to greet her. Bonnie answers, "She's weak."

"The doctors don't know if she is going to make it," I say. I can feel my eyes burning from wanting to release tears, but I can't let that happen now. Because as soon as I start crying, I feel like that is when the situation is hopeless, and that is not right now.

"What?" Elena asks. Tears start pooling in her eyes. Bonnie and I pull her into a hug. "Is there something you can do?" She asks Bonnie. We all pull back. "Like a spell or something?" Sadly no.

Bonnie and I are both about to answer, when Damon walks up, "She doesn't know how." Way to make yourself sound like a complete asshole, Damon. We all turn to him. "Do you?" I roll my eyes.

"No. I don't," Bonnie admits, sadly.

"No, you don't. It took Emily years to learn a spell like that," Damon replies.

"Oh, well, I can take down a vampire. That spell was pretty easy to learn," Bonnie says. Oh, burn!

Damon just ignores her and turns to Elena. "I can give her some blood." Oh no. Not going to happen.

"No," Elena and I both respond. "No way." Haha. Twin power to the max.

"Just enough to heal her. She'll be safe in the hospital, and it'll be out of her system in a day," Damon replies. When he puts it like that, it does not sound like a bad idea, especially because Caroline is holding on by a thread right now. If she gets vampire blood, she is sure to survive. But at the same time, none of us can handle a newborn vampire right now. "She'll be better, Elena." Why is she the one making the decision? Ugh, Damon and his stupid unrequited affection.

"It's too risky," Elena replies. She is not wrong. But it is a valid solution. And from what the doctors are saying, Caroline might need a miracle to survive without some supernatural help. I'm willing to take the risks to save our friend. "I can't agree to that." I don't think she is seeing the whole picture here. I'd rather have our friend being a baby vamp than just dead. It's terrible, but it's true.

"Do it," I say. Everyone looks at me. "This is Caroline. We cannot let her die." I turn to Damon. "Do it."

"If I do this, what do I get in return?" Damon asks.

I roll my eyes. "Nothing. But you are going to do this anyways," I say.

"And why is that?"

"Because you don't want me to shove a stake so far up your ass that only a surgeon could remove it," I say sweetly.

He winces, "Thanks for that, Buffy."

"You'll do it. For Elena," Bonnie says. I just smirk. He is so obvious. After that remark, she gives me a hug and walks away.

She probably has the right idea, but I want to watch this next conversation. I just remembered that this will be the first time Damon and Elena are seeing each other after their 'kiss.' I should probably tell him that he kissed Katherine, but this will just be so much more fun.

I take a small step back as Damon turns to Elena. "All right, I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now, but we should talk about what happened tonight." He is making such an awkward face. I need popcorn.

"Yeah, one of the tomb vampires got into the house and almost killed John," Elena replies. Is that what she thought happened? I thought she saw Katherine before she flashed away. Oh well. This just makes this conversation more entertaining.

"What? When?" Damon asks, taken aback in surprise. "What are you talking about? After I left?"

"You were there?" Oh this is good.

"Come on, Elena, you know I was."

"When were you at the house?"

"Really?" Elena gives him a look. "Earlier." She still looks confused. "On the porch, we were talking, all cathartic, feelings exposed." I am so close to laughing out loud it is not funny. They are both so confused and it is hilarious. Especially for me, because I know exactly what happened. Plus they are doing this is the weirdest way possible, being all roundabout instead of getting to the point of the awkwardness. "Come on, we kissed, Elena."

"I don't have time for this, Damon," Elena says as she starts to walk away.

Damon grabs her arm. "Hey. If you want to forget it happened, fine. But I can't." I chuckle out loud. I'm sorry but this is just so overdramatic. They both turn to me.

Then Jenna comes rushing over, "Elena! I came as soon as I got your message." Damon lets go of Elena's arm as Jenna walks up to us. "How is John?"

"Where have you been?" Elena asks. Whoops. Did I forget to tell her?

"At the fire department. I had to fill out a report," Jenna says. "I told you earlier." Jenna must have told Katherine right as she left to go to the fire department.

"No, you didn't," Elena says.

"Yes, I did," Jenna replies. Okay, this might be a little cruel, especially to Jenna who won't understand anything. But it is still funny. And now I want to see if Damon figures it out.

They go back and forth a few more times before it finally hits Damon. "Oh, you got to be kidding me."

"Figured it out finally, did you?" I ask with a smirk. Everyone turns to me. "Jenna, can you go check on John's status at the nurses' station over there. I will explain everything later." Jenna nods and walks away from this crazy conversation. As soon as she is far enough away, I start cracking up. Damon just looks annoyed and Elena still looks confused. After a minute of me laughing, I calm down and say, "I think you guys should head back to the house. You are gonna need to check on Stefan." They nod their heads and start heading out. When they are a little farther away, I start to head back towards Bonnie, Matt, and Jenna. I yell at the last minute over my shoulder, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Katherine is back in town!" They both freeze in shock and I start laughing again.

* * *

><p>Two days later, after a long night waiting at the hospital with Matt and Sheriff Forbes, Bonnie stops by. She left a couple hours after the crazy conversation. Damon stopped by a half hour later to give Caroline some blood and fill me in on the conversation that went down in my house between Elena and the brothers. Suffice to say, I would have been very entertained. But Caroline hadn't woken up yet, so I spent my time the next day (yesterday) taking care of Sheriff Forbes and Matt while they waited on Caroline to wake up. I went home to make more food for Matt and the sheriff, as well as food for the mayor's wake later today.<p>

I'm hanging out outside Caroline's room when Bonnie stops by. She walks up and greets Matt. "Have you been here all night?" She asks.

"Yeah, with Ems and the sheriff," Matt replies.

"And no one else?" She is asking whether or not Damon held up his promise, but Matty doesn't know that.

"Stefan's brother, Damon stopped by late night before last," he replies.

"How is Caroline today?" Bonnie asks.

"See for yourself," he replies. They walk up to me and Bonnie gives me a quick hug. Together we walk into Care's room.

She is lying on her bed, wide awake, watching the TV. When we walk in, she gives us a huge smile and says, "'Jersey Shore' is on." Bonnie walks over to her and gives her a big hug. Caroline gasps in pain and says, "Oh careful! I'm still a little sore."

"Sorry," Bonnie says, pulling back from the hug. I walk up to the other side of Caroline's bed and Matt walks up behind Bonnie.

"It's okay," Caroline replies with her big, bright smile. "But they say I'm healing really quick."

"My turn," Matt says as he leans in for a kiss. I pretend-gag at their sweetness and Bonnie laughs. But I'm really happy for them.

"Aww, isn't he cute?" Caroline says. Bonnie starts tearing up in relief. "Why are you crying?"

"We're just really happy that you are okay," I say.

"Aw, I love you guys," Caroline replies. We get in a big group hug and start laughing. As soon as we break apart, we start shooing Matt away. I think it is time for some girl time. I give him another hug and send him home to take care of himself.

As soon as he is gone, I turn to other girls and announce, "It's time for Girl Talk." We all laugh. Caroline makes her bed sit up more and Bonnie and I grab seats on her bed. I sit with my feet hanging off the bed on Caroline's left side, while Bonnie lounges at the foot of the bed. I pull out some magazines that I had with me last night and we start to page through them with 'Jersey Shore' on in the background. I pull out some of those cheesy preteen magazines with all those quizzes like 'What should be your red carpet pose?' or 'Who is your celebrity best friend?' We take the quizzes and laugh at our answers. It's a light-hearted way to relieve all the tension from the past couple of days. Of course 'Who is your future celebrity husband' always gets us talking. This leads to us talking about boys and boyfriends, such a loaded topic.

"So Bonnie, what kind of guy do you picture yourself falling in love with?" I ask.

She looks up from her magazine. "I don't know. I've always wanted someone like Heath Ledger in 'Ten Things I Hate About You.' Someone who I can joke around with, I guess."

"You definitely need someone who will not only joke around with you, but will fully humiliate himself to impress you," I say, laughing. "I can totally see you with a guy like that. Someone to get you to relax and laugh and bring you out of your shell." Or walls, depending on how you want to see it.

"Oh my god! Yes!" Caroline exclaims.

"Caroline would totally get with a Leo DiCaprio or Ryan Gosling. Some guy who is a total romantic and wants to sweep her off her feet and show her the world or something."

"So true," Bonnie says.

"I have Matt though… But, I would never turn down Ryan Gosling," Caroline says. We all laugh. "What about you, Emmy?"

"I don't know. I'm not really into the whole guy thing right now," I reply as I turn back to my sketchpad. I've been working on this drawing of this tree practically all night.

"Is this about Keith?" Caroline asks. I wince as memories flash into my mind. "That ended almost a year ago."

"Yeah, but it was hard." That's a complete understatement. That was a difficult relationship to get out of. And a harder one to forget.

"Well if you had to pick a guy, what kind of guy would you want?" Caroline asks.

"I don't know. Who do you see me with?" I ask.

They think for a second before Bonnie replies, "I can totally picture you with some sweet, little nerd who is almost a smart as you."

"No," Caroline interjects. "She needs someone who is super hot."

"Okay, fine," Bonnie says. "What about this super hot, sporty guy, who is like secretly super smart. They could be all cute and smart together, but he could totally protect her from all the bad stuff."

"No," I say. "I don't want a guy to fight my battles for me. I can take care of myself."

"Well then, what do you want?"

"I guess," I say. "I want a guy who is respectful and smart, a gentleman," I start. But as I start to think about it, a picture starts to from in my mind of what I would want. "Someone who is cultured, but not arrogant. Someone who will let loose with me, doing crazy things, but will also be fine relaxing in the sun. Someone who loves their family and would do anything for them and for me. Someone who is strong, but doesn't always look it. Someone who lets me fight my own battles, but is willing to fight for me if need be. Someone who can protect me when I need help. Someone to help me when I'm broken down. Someone who I can be comfortable with just talking to. Someone who loves me for just being myself." I trail off at the end.

"That's amazing," Bonnie says after a short moment of silence.

"I feel like you almost described one of those quiet men with a wild side," Caroline says. Always tactful, Caroline. Bonnie and I both turn to her. "What? It's true!" Bonnie and I start laughing. That's one way to break the moment. "The beginning part was totally that guy. A gentleman who will go crazy with you."

"Oh yeah! Like that guy who is all prim and proper when you first meet him, but then in the bedroom he is like totally insane with passion," Bonnie says.

"Prim and proper? Like some guy in a suit?" I ask.

"Oh my god! Yes!" Bonnie and Caroline both exclaim.

"You are totally gonna get with some hot older guy in a suit who is like totally cool and cultured, but is actually a beast between the sheets," Caroline says. I start laughing and they join in.

"Well, I have always liked guys in suits," I say. We start laughing more. I flip through my magazine more until I find the quiz 'Which song should you play on repeat?' This gets us started on the whole 'Baby' by Justin Bieber (Caroline's suggestion) versus 'Only Girl in the World' by Rhianna (Bonnie's). I just follow along in their argument and enjoy my fun time with my best friends, while thinking about my man in a suit.

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><p>After a few hours of friendly fun, Bonnie and I both head home to get ready for the wake for Mayor Lockwood, who died in the fire on Founders' Day. I quickly shower and change, so I can meet up with Elena and Stefan, who are heading to the hospital to talk to John. They think he might know something about Katherine, because Isobel knew her and he was attacked by her. I quickly grab some of the food I made yesterday before heading to my car and following Elena and Stefan in her car to the hospital.<p>

When we get to John's room, we stop outside as Stefan asks us, but mainly Elena, "Ready for this?" We both nod and walk in.

John is resting in his bed when we enter. His hand is wrapped around the base of his fingers, which the doctors reattached. I imagine that his stomach is also stitched and wrapped, but it is covered by his hospital gown.

"John?" Elena calls out softly. His eyes flutter open. When his eyes settle on Elena, he jumps back and grabs his call button for the nurses. But before he can press it, Stefan grabs his hand and stops him. "I'm Elena, I'm not Katherine."

"We know she did this to you. We need to know why," I say.

"Where is she?" John asks, looking down and away from us.

"You tell us," Stefan says, crossing his arms.

"I don't know," John replies softly. He pushes himself to sit up straighter, groaning, but Stefan pushes his shoulder to force him to lie back down.

"You're a little too weak to be playing tough guy," Stefan says. "Why don't you just sit back and answer a few questions?"

John lays down in defeat. Elena walks over and places the Gilbert ring in his left palm.

"Please," Elena says after she places the ring. "Tell us why she is here. What does she want?" John stays silent.

Stefan sighs before saying, "She'll try again. We can't help you if you don't confide in us."

"In you?" John says, skeptically. Ah right. He is a vampire hater. He did just try to kill Stefan and Damon with the fire in dad's old practice building. We are going to need a different tactic, most likely less polite.

There's a moment of tense silence before Stefan says, "In your daughters, then." Oh, that elephant in the room. I had almost forgotten it was there. But now it is shining as if it was covered in neon lights.

"My daughters should have driven a stake through your heart by now," John replies. Thanks, Dad.

"I could've, but that would not be getting us answers now," I say. "So instead of you being disappointed in us right now and us hating you for lying to us our entire lives, why don't you start giving us answers so we can all move on?"

John stares at me for a moment, but I stare back until he finally drops his gaze and sighs. He turns to Stefan. "I haven't spoken with Katherine directly. She never trusted me." Well there is a big surprise. He just seems so trustworthy. I mean with all of those secret plans to harm a bunch of people, who wouldn't want to share secrets with this guy. "Now either kill me, or get out. Because I can't stand the sight of you with my daughters." This is such a great father daughters chat, especially the part where he won't even talk to us.

"You see the problem with such hatred, it's gonna get you killed," Elena says. Then she leaves the room, storming away like any other angry teenage daughter. Other teenage girls wish they had problems like ours.

Stefan starts to walk away and follow her, but he stops. He then rushes to John's side and holds John's moth open. There are sounds of John struggling, but I don't care. "You may be okay with dying, but I have another plan for you," Stefan says. He grabs his wrist and bites into it, and then forcefully feeds the blood dripping from the wound to John. "You now have my blood in your system," he says, removing his wrist from John's mouth. Stefan wraps his hands around John's head and neck again. "All I have to do is kill you. Now take my advice-Leave town. Elena and Emilia don't want you here. You have about 24 hours before my blood leaves your system. That's enough time to disappear. Or so help me god, I will turn you into a vampire and I will watch you hate yourself more than you already do." Stefan releases John, leaving him gasping. Stefan walks to the doorway before saying over his shoulder, "Clock starts now." He then leaves.

I feel like I should have more issues with what just happened. My father was just attacked by a vampire and force-fed blood and threatened. Then again, it's my lying uncle/biological father who hates vampires being threatened by my sister's boyfriend who happens to be a vampire who is only threatening my lying biological father because he just hurt my twin sister and almost killed her vampire boyfriend. So all in all, I'm not that mad. In fact, I basically did the same thing to my vampire biological mother. Only I used a stake to the stomach instead of force feeding vampire blood. Ah whatever, same difference.

John cleans up the blood that is all over his mouth and stares at me. I think he is staring at me, because he can't believe why I let that happen and why I'm still here. "You know Stefan and I are remarkably similar," I say. "I made a similar threat to Isobel as he did to you. Leave town, don't come back, never hurt my family again, and if you do I will kill you. Of course I used a wooden stake through the stomach and he used vampire blood, but that is just semantics." I can see the shock on his face as I tell him this so plainly. "You had to have one daughter follow in your vampire killing footsteps. But unlike you, I know which ones deserve to be killed." I walk to the door to leave and at the last moment I stop, turn around, and give him one last, "Goodbye, John," before leaving.

* * *

><p>Elena and Stefan head back to the house to get Jeremy and Jenna, while I head to the wake to drop off the food. I walk in through a side door first, closer to the dining room with the other food. Then I head to the front door, where Tyler stands greeting guests. I give him a tight hug. We were once close friends, when we were younger. We would all hang out here, because his yard is the largest, but I liked all the antiques in his house. Carol Lockwood loved me because I always complimented her house and asked her about the different stuff in the house. Tyler, Matt, Elena, and I spent so much time together here from when we were infants until we were in middle school. Then Bonnie and Caroline would join us more, and then we broke off into guys and girls. Then Tyler became an ass and we all stopped hanging out with him, except Matt. But that still doesn't mean that we aren't friends or we were friends.<p>

Just as I let go of him, a black Bronco pulls in front of the house and out steps Uncle Mason. He is Tyler's dad's younger brother. He and Jenna used to be really close, because they went to school together. He used to hang out all the time at our house whenever Jenna was home from school at the same time, so I spent time with him when I was growing up. That led to me calling him Uncle Mason too. I was little and he spent time with my aunt, what else would I call him? I step back, closer to the house as nephew and uncle greet each other.

"So the black sheep returns," Tyler says.

"Tyler?" Mason asks as he climbs that front steps and stands in front of Tyler.

"Yeah," Tyler replies.

"What happened to you?" Mason asks. "In my mind, you are still twelve years old."

"That's two years older than the last time you saw me, Uncle Mason." True. Wow, it's been awhile since I've seen Uncle Mason. I was still an awkward child back then. Times have definitely changed since then.

"Get over here," Mason says, pulling Tyler into a hug. Tyler still seems awkward, but I think he will be fine. Then he hugs Mason back, patting him on the back. I knew it. "Good to see you again," Mason says.

"It's good to see you too," Tyler replies as they release. "Come on inside." I take that as my cue to step back outside for a quick hello.

Right as I step into the light and Mason sees me, he stops. "Oh my god," he says. "Little Emilia Gilbert? Is that you?"

I walk up to him and give a quick wave, "Hey Mason, it's good to see you. It's been awhile."

He laughs. "Yeah, back then you were tiny and wore glasses, but now you look great."

"Growing up does that to you. I've changed a lot since I was ten," I reply.

"I can tell. You used to call me Uncle Mason back then."

"Yeah well, I also thought there would be a chance I could go to Hogwarts."

"Ouch. But still it's great to see you," he says with a smile.

"You too," I say. I give him a quick hug, and say, "Sorry you had to come back for such a sad reason and I'm sorry for your loss." He nods his thanks after I release him. "Jenna is coming later, so you two should catch up. I will see you both later."

I walk back into the house, but not before I overhear a quick, "Wow. That was little Emilia Gilbert," from Mason as he and Tyler walk into the house a few seconds after me.

I walk around the party, seeing almost everyone in the town here to pay their respects. That is nice, but I guess when it's the mayor, everyone feels a bit more obligated to show up. I see Bonnie and Damon arguing by a food table. I'm walking over there when Damon starts groaning in pain and I can feel Bonnie doing her magic on him. It then stops and she walks away. He's left with a giant headache that will last a few more moments and a pissed off expression. I walk over to him and grab a strawberry from the table, "Good job, Damon. You pissed off one of the few people in this town that can actually cause you a tremendous amount of pain. And good choice choosing the witch. She may not know a lot now, but who do you think she will want to practice on when she does?" I take a bite of my strawberry as I walk away. I see Bonnie outside talking to Elena, so I start to walk back to the party when my phone buzzes.

'Leaving now. 5 min away' From: Elena

Wait. I turn back towards outside, where Bonnie and Elena were. Oh no, not Elena. Katherine. Crap. I rush towards where they were standing and I walk along the porch, trying to find where they could be. Bonnie can protect herself, but not for very long. I find them right as Katherine flashes to Bonnie's side. Bonnie starts using magic and Katherine starts groaning. The aneurysm spell. That should hold her for a few more moments while I grab some stuff from my coat. But as I'm grabbing my extra stakes and special pepper spray, Katherine stands up normally. She grabs Bonnie by the neck and forces her into the wall, flashing her fangs. I run into the room as Bonnie uses magic to open the doors showing Katherine's vampire face to others. Katherine has to hide the fangs to keep from being spotted, right as I press a stake to her side. Stefan walks into the open doorway and calls for Katherine. He then tells her to leave Bonnie alone. She turns to me and I raise my pepper spray bottle.

"Trust me, you don't want to be hit with either of these and I have a few more tricks up my sleeve," I say. "I suggest you go with Stefan." I smile at her brightly, by sarcastically. She drops her hold on Bonnie and I step back. She then follows Stefan further into the house. As soon as she is out of sight, I turn and check on Bonnie. As soon as she tells me that she is okay, we split up to find Elena and check on her.

I find her on the front porch talking with Damon. Uh oh. They look like they are having an intense conversation, which will probably end in someone getting hurt, my guess is Damon. I walk up and hear what sounds like the end of the conversation.

"Why is it such a surprise that I would kiss you?" I hear Damon ask.

"That's not a surprise. I'm surprised that you I thought I would kiss you back," Elena replies. Ouch, harsh.

"Now I'm hurt," Damon says as he walks away. Now she has got to know that that was too far. Damon actually admitting to feelings is rare, but him admitting feelings of hurt is like a sighting of a specific comet. It almost never happens. That's when you know you have gone too far.

"Good job, Elena," I say as I walk up. "Just kick the guy when he is down." She is about to respond when Bonnie runs up to us out of breath. She goes on to explain about Katherine. Elena goes running off to find Stefan, while Bonnie and I head back to the party.

* * *

><p>After the wake winds down and everyone has given their respects, we head home. It's late and we are all heading to bed when I hear noises coming from Elena's room. Normally Stefan and Elena do their business at the Boarding House because it's bigger and there are less people, so it can't be that. I get up and see that Jeremy also heard the noises. It sounds like Elena is arguing with Damon. She is saying something about "I love Stefan. It is always going to be Stefan." Uh Oh.<p>

I open the door and Jeremy asks, "Elena, what's going on in here?" Damon is holding Elena's wrists, but she escapes and waves us away.

"Nothing. It's okay. Just go back to bed," she says. She rubs her hand across her forehead as if she has a headache.

"No, it's not okay, Elena," Damon says. He turns to face Jeremy. "He wants to be a vampire." He lunges towards Jeremy and grabs him before I can stop him.

"No, Damon, stop it!" Elena screams. I just search around for anything that can be used as a weapon. Aren't we different?

Damon holds Jeremy head and forces him against the wall. "You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world? The part of you that cares just goes away. All you have to do is flip the switch and snap!" On the word snap, he snaps Jeremy's neck. No!

Elena and I rush to Jeremy, to his body. Elena grabs hold of his head and starts rocking back and forth, crying. I search for his pulse, not believing that he could be dead. I start to shake him, begging him to wake up. He can't be dead. My little brother can't be dead. This is not happening. He is not dead. I grab his hand, squeezing it as tears pull into my eyes. He can't be gone.

I look down at his finger and see the Gilbert ring. John must have given it to him or something. Wait. The Gilbert ring. It protects people from dying of supernatural causes. He's not dead. I show it to Elena and she sighs in relief. She grabs her phone and calls Stefan, while I cradle his head. Stefan arrives a minute later. Elena cradles Jeremy's hands while I hold his head. Elena and Stefan have a conversation but I lose the words. I'm too busy thinking about all the ways Damon has to pay for doing this.

I don't care that he did this because he was hurting. I don't care that he is my friend. I don't care that he is Stefan's brother. I don't care. He is going to pay for what he did.

Jeremy wakes up a few minutes later. Stefan checks that he is okay and I take him back to his room. He keeps repeating that Damon killed him and with each time he says those words, my anger grows. Eventually, Jeremy goes back to sleep and I watch him sleep peacefully for a few more moments, before I head back to my room. I start rounding up some of my tools. I grab various stakes, vervain chains, vervain powders, and other wooden tools. Stefan sees me gathering this stuff up and I know he knows what I am about to do. I turn to leave, but he is there, blocking the door and my exit.

"Don't tell me not to do this, Stefan," I say.

"Please don't," Stefan replies.

"He killed my brother."

"And you are about to kill mine." Damn it! Why did he have to make my argument less logical and more moral? "He is hurting enough already."

"And that makes this okay? He is a vampire. We cannot afford him going off on a killing spree every time he gets his feelings hurt. He was drunk and irresponsible, but the same could be said for some guy who kills a kid because he drove drunk. That same guy has to face punishment as does Damon. Damon's is just worse, because he chose to kill my brother."

"Jeremy is fine."

"Because of a magical ring, yes. A magical ring that Jeremy should never have to use. But Damon made him use it. And without that ring, my brother would be dead."

"But he is fine."

"This time. What if this happens again? Damon is in love with Elena who loves you. He is going to get hurt. What about the next time when he is drunk and hurt, what will he do then? What if my brother doesn't have his ring or Damon chooses to go after someone else? What happens then, Stefan?"

"There won't be a next time. I will be sure of that. Damon will face consequences for what he did tonight. But you will not be killing him for this. I will see that he faces punishment for his actions, but you will not be giving him these punishments. Is that clear?"

"Fine, dad." Stefan just rolls his eyes. I give him a squirt bottle with vervain tinted water. "This will not kill him, just hurt him a bit. Please squirt him with this. He at least deserves that much. If this happens again, if he goes after my family again, there will be no stopping me… He gets this one chance only. Ext time, I will kill him. Be sure to tell him that too."

"Thank you, Ems."

"Don't thank me. I'm still thinking up a million ways to hurt him."

"As long as he is alive in the end and I don't have to clean up anything, I don't care."

I chuckle and start putting away my things. "Good night, Stefan."

"Night."

* * *

><p>The next day brings the annual carnival. Every year, Mystic Falls High School hosts a carnival to raise money for the school. This year, Caroline was supposed to be in charge (as she is with most events), but because she is in the hospital, Elena takes over. I spend most of the day with Bonnie, stocking up prizes and building various stands with crappy games, following Elena's orders, all while trying to ignore the fact that I still really want to kill Damon. Well maybe at this point, just seriously maim him. I have always been curious about the extent of vampire healing. For example, if I chop off a vampire's dick, does it grow back? I would've originally tested something like fingers, but what with that just happening with John, I don't think anyone needs a reminder. Sadly for Damon, he seems like a perfect test subject at the moment. Luckily for him, Stefan seems to have talked him into avoiding me and hopefully the rest of my family for now.<p>

I spend the majority of the carnival with Bonnie, passing time by playing the stupid games and running around trying to fix everything that goes wrong. Suffice to say, we spent a bit more time running around than playing those worthless games trying to win terrible prizes. Everything is going fine until I see Damon holding Jeremy in a headlock.

Oh HELL NO! I grab the stake hidden in my jacket and rush over.

I hear Damon whisper the words, "It's this close for me to end you," into Jeremy's ear

"Let. Go. Of Him," I whisper to Damon. I dig my stake into the small of his back. Luckily, I brought a really sharp stake today. If I apply a bit more pressure, it will slide through his skin easily. It is also covered a bit in a low concentration liquid solution of vervain. It's still painful, but not nearly as bad as a solution of a higher concentration. It's a similar feeling to sticking rubbing alcohol in a cut. It hurts, but it could be a lot worse.

Damon drops his hold of Jeremy and holds up his hands as if he was being arrested. Jeremy drops back and away from Damon when he is released.

"I suggest you tell your punk brother not to go making threats against me that he can't follow through with," Damon says.

I jab my stake just the slightest bit into his skin. Damon leans back in reaction to the pain, so I pull his head down so I can whisper in his ear. "And I suggest you start finding ways to avoid my family. He only threatened you because you killed him. And make no mistake, no matter what my brother said to you, you cannot hurt him, because if you do, I will turn whatever small threat you were likely about to say to him seem like a pleasant dream." Damon stays silent, so I jab my stake a little further into his body. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Damon replies. I remove my stake from Damon and he groans in relief, sagging forwards. I grab Jeremy and we walk away. I check to see that Jeremy has his ring before looking back at Damon. He is standing, brushing off his shirt, trying to reclaim some of his dignity. It must sting getting his ass whipped by a girl. He is just lucky I didn't want to kill him in a crowded area.

As soon as Jeremy and I are out of Damon's eye sight, we stop and I slap Jeremy on the back of the head.

"Ow," Jeremy says. "What was that for?" He asks, holding the back of his head.

"That was for threatening a temperamental 150 year old vampire," I say. "You could've been killed."

"I had my ring, he couldn't do anything," Jeremy says.

I roll my eyes. "That ring does not make you invincible. If you haven't noticed, it is not permanently stuck to your body. It can be taken off, which leaves you vulnerable. So Damon can still kill you. You are lucky I was there or who know what could have happened to you."

"I'm sorry, Emmy."

"Don't you Emmy me right now," I say. "You are still in trouble."

"Sorry," Jeremy says sheepishly.

"Yeah yeah. Now run along. We will discuss this more later. For now just avoid all thoughts of the supernatural and try to be a normal teenage kid."

Jeremy laughs as he runs off. I head the other direction to go look for Bonnie again. And to avoid Elena, so she can't make me do more work.

Unfortunately I find Damon again first. He is with Stefan in the high school staring at a stand and talking. I walk closer to find them looking at the arm-wrestling station with Mason and Tyler battling it out.

Tyler should obviously be the winner. He is a tank. Well triple letter varsity athlete, but same difference really. But no, Mason wins, slamming Tyler's hand down and Tyler having to accept defeat. Tyler stands and declares Mason the champion. He asks for another challenger to face Mason, when Damon volunteers Stefan. This should be interesting. It should be an easy win for Stefan if he uses his vampire strength. Mason is strong, sure, but that doesn't mean he can compete with a 150 year old vampire. But when they start to wrestle, it's a standstill. Stefan's smirk that was originally on his face starts to slip. I can tell when he actually starts to use his strength, but still Mason's arm doesn't move. Eventually Stefan lets his arm slip and Mason takes him down.

When Stefan walks back to Damon, Damon says, "You didn't put in any effort at all."

Stefan stops for a second before saying, "Yeah, actually, I did." Well damn.

Wait. Things are starting to connect and make sense.

Mason's strength. Tyler's reaction to the Gilbert device. His anger issues, especially around the full moon. His eyes after the crash, animal-like eyes. No, wolf-like.

The Lockwoods are werewolves? Holy crap.

I walk closer to Stefan and Damon discussing what just went down. Damon asks, "What is up with that family?" as I hide behind a close corner. Oh so much. "If they are not vampires, what are they?" I want to help, but I'm still pissed at Damon and even though I respect Stefan for stopping me, I'm still a little mad at him. Plus it's more entertaining to see what they come up with.

"Oh, uh, maybe they're, uh, Ninja Turtles," Stefan says. Ha ha.

"You're not funny," Damon replies. True, but that was a good response.

"Or no, zombies. Werewolves," Stefan continues. It's right in front of their faces and they don't even see it.

"No comedic timing at all," Damon replies. I chuckle quietly and walk away. Damon probably has some stupid plan to help them figure something out. I don't need to be part of that.

Later Elena informs me that they had a meeting about Caroline. Katherine killed her and she turned. Oh poor Caroline. This is not what she or anyone else needs right now. She is just getting to a good place in her life and this could tear it all done so quickly. I rush off looking for her immediately. I grab my purse from my locker while I'm looking around. You never know what I will need.

I find Caroline with Damon. Crap, I cannot escape seeing him. But now he is crossing a line. He is holding Caroline, but raising his arm slowly to position the stake in his hand to stab her. Luckily, I have a small stake shooting crossbow hidden in my purse. I'm starting to surprise myself with how well I'm always prepared. Damon is almost in position to stab her when I shoot. It hits his arm and forces him to drop his stake and let go of Caroline. Stefan and Elena arrive a few seconds later. Stefan runs to separate Damon from Caroline a bit more and Elena runs to grab Caroline.

Caroline pushes Elena away shouting, "Get away from me! You killed me!"

I run over to Caroline while Elena tries to explain, "no, no, no. That wasn't me. You know that. That was Katherine."

Caroline freaks out again, "No! Then why does she look like you?!" She starts holding herself, so I run over and place my hand on her arm. "Why did she do this to me?" I pull her into a hug.

Elena turns to Stefan. "Stefan, we got to get her inside." She needs to be cleaned up and have everything explained to her. She is probably so confused. Who knows how much Damon told her and how much she just started to remember.

"It's all right, Caroline. Come with me," Stefan says facing Damon at first and then turning to grab Caroline by her hand. I walk with them to help explain.

"She will die. It's only a matter of time," Damon says smugly with his arms crossed, as if he doesn't have a care in the world.

"yeah, maybe so," Stefan says. Wait what. "But it's not going to happen tonight." That's better.

"Oh, yeah it is," Damon says. Oh no. I see him start to move, so I grab that stake from my jacket sleeve and step in front of Caroline right as Damon flashes in front of her with a stake raised. He stops short as soon as he feels my sharp stake against his unprotected stomach.

"You have already felt the pain of this stake being stuck in your skin tonight. Do you really want to try it again?" I ask.

Elena, who is standing to the side, walks over to our standstill and says, "Damon, she is my friend." They stare into each other's for a few tense seconds.

Damon hands drop and he steps back a half step. I drop my stake in response. He turns to face Elena. "Whatever happens, it's on you."

"We got to get her cleaned up," Elena says. We start to walk towards the bathrooms when we spot Bonnie.

"Caroline?" Bonnie asks. Oh no. Bonnie hates vampires. She is not going to handle Caroline being one. "You're not. You can't be." She walks over and grabs Caroline's arm. She is doing her witchy reading powers, which just confirm her suspicions. I would think the blood on and around her mouth would do that.

Poor Caroline still looks confused. "Bonnie?" Caroline asks. Bonnie backs away slowly while shaking her head. Caroline tries to explain, but I don't think she understands herself. I think she just knows that Bonnie is upset with her. Bonnie runs to look at the body behind us on the truck. Caroline must have killed someone. Elena pushes us slightly and we take that as our sign to leave. Elena stays behind; she must want to talk to Bonnie. I would stay to, but Caroline needs me more right now. She knows Stefan, but it might be better if I'm there.

As soon as we walk into the bathroom, Caroline stands over the sink crying, "She hates me. Bonnie hates me."

I rub my hands on her back, trying to comfort her and calm her down. "No, no, no. She doesn't hate you. She is just in shock, we all are."

Stefan grabs some paper towels and wets them. He hands one to me and pulls Caroline to face us, "It's all right. Come here." We start wiping the blood off of her face.

"What- What am I gonna do about Ma-"Caroline starts to say, but can't because she is still crying.

"Sh. One thing at a time. Let's just get this blood cleaned off," Stefan says. Caroline calms down enough so that she can take a towel and start cleaning off her hands. Stefan starts wetting another towel, while I keep wiping blood off her face.

Caroline starts crying again, "I'm a murderer. I'm a monster."

"Sh sh sh," I say. "You're not a monster. You just made a mistake. You didn't know what you were doing. You didn't know what was going on."

"Listen to me, Caroline," Stefan says. "Your emotions are heightened right now. It's part of the transformation. It's completely normal, I promise you, all right?"

Caroline nods in response, but then her vampire face and fangs start to appear. She is facing the mirror, so she sees this and freaks out, "Ah. Why does this keep happening to my face?" She covers her face with her hands. "I'm hideous."

I pull her hands from her face as Stefan grabs her face forcing her to look at him. He shows her his vampire face and I step back. There is no reason for me, a human, to be around two vampires with their fangs out, especially if one is an uncontrolled baby vampire, even though they are both my friends.

He lets his face turn to normal again and says, "You see that. When you feel the blood rush in, you tell yourself that you're gonna get through it, that you're strong enough." Caroline starts to shake her head. "yes, yes. No matter how good it feels to give yourself over to it, you fight it. You bury it." This might not be the best advice in the long run. Caroline is the kind of person to hold everything down until it all explodes. Usually her explosions are loud and dramatic, and that is not good when she is a vampire. "That's the only way you are gonna survive this thing." After that they start to breathe until Caroline calms down enough.

"Why did Katherine do this to me?" Caroline asks.

"We don't know," Stefan says. Caroline looks down sadly.

"Hey, I," I start. "we-" I correct. "-promise you that we will not let anything happen to you." I pull Caroline into a hug, which Stefan joins.

Then we go back to cleaning up and Stefan starts to explain everything. At some point I feel that special tingling feeling which means that Bonnie is using magic, but I keep helping Caroline. Hopefully Elena will be able to stop whatever is going on. Or help if it is against Damon.

Eventually we head back outside to find Bonnie rushing away, Damon on the ground and a few small fires around him. I see a hose with water still running and a line of water which connects to the small fires sill around and burning. Bonnie must have used her magic to ignite the fire and, from the look of Damon's clothes, used it to burn Damon. I laugh as I walk past him, walking with Caroline to my car to take her home.

Well this has been an interesting day.

* * *

><p>Extra scene:<p>

Damon sits on the couch in the living room of the Boarding House, staring at Jeremy who stands in the hallway between the living room and the front door. He holds in one hand a glass of bourbon and in the other the stake that Jeremy made and brought to kill him. Jeremy is about to leave after Damon made a snarky remark after Jeremy shared some of his personal thoughts. Jeremy told him about his jealousy of his dad and uncle and their strong belief in hating vampires and how Jeremy wants to believe in something that much.

"Wait," Damon says. "My father hated vampires, too."

Jeremy stops, "He did?"

"Same reason your dad did. Only, it was 1864." Damon holds up the stake. "People knew how to whittle." Jeremy chuckles. "Did you do this?"

"Yeah, I tried. It's- It's a little harder than it looks," Jeremy replies.

"Huh. You could always ask your sister for help," Damon says.

Jeremy chuckles, but then stops. "Wait what?" Damon just starts laughing.

* * *

><p>AN: I just wanted to write the last couple of lines of that last scene. I thought it would be entertaining. Think of it as a small reward for meeting my goal for the last chapter. Speaking of that, I would really like to thank all of you guys again for that. For those who don't remember my goal was 100 reviews, 250 follows, and 200 favorites and you guys went above and beyond that and I can't thank you enough. At the time of me posting this chapter, this story is at 102 reviews, 224 favorites, 272 follows and 44,530 views. Thank you guys so much.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Tell me what you think!


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